Savage
by crypticxmetaphor
Summary: Kira was banished by her people and forced to live alone in the woods. When people fall out of the sky, curiosity draws her to them and to one man in particular. Bellamy/OC
1. Chapter 1

A wet nose in her face woke Kira up. The wolf barked, pushing until the woman sat up. Kira moved out from under the blanket of leaves made to camouflage her and looked up at the sky. A falling star lit up the night. It was approaching the earth and fast. Kira moved to her feet, clutching the rough wood of her spear in her fist. She moved quickly and quietly through the forest, knowing exactly where the roots of trees stuck out without looking down. She whistled, once, and Fenrir picked up his pace to run beside her. As soon as Kira stood she had known it wasn't a star; it was far too big, but she wished on it anyway, wondering if her brother or the others had seen it.

The dust was still settling when Kira arrived with the wolf. In the middle of the forest, stood a hunk of metal at least six people tall. She wanted to get closer to examine the strange arrival, but a loud noise startled her. She scrambled up the nearest tree and perched on a branch, still peering down at the metal mountain. Her leather gauntlets protected her forearms from the bark that she clung to. Kira's eyes fixed on a human; a young girl, several years younger than herself with long, brown hair who stood laughing. Behind the girl emerged a man with slicked-back, black hair. _People_ , Kira grinned to herself. And they were beautiful.

The people continued filing out of the sky-metal until Kira counted about a hundred of them. They were all children, except for the first male she saw, varying in age and size and because they kept moving around it was hard to get an exact number. Kira lost count at 83. A group of five split off from the larger group in the direction of the mountain. _Goodbye,_ Kira whispered. She hung in that tree until nightfall, watching them and waiting for the cover of darkness to return to her only friend.

Beneath the tree, the man called Bellamy recruited followers and asserted himself as leader of the group. It was impressive the way he convinced them to listen to him and take off their metal jewelry. They believed he knew what he was doing, but the whole time he didn't notice that they were being watched.

Hours later when the sun had set, Kira didn't retreat back into the forest. Instead she inched closer to the makeshift encampment. She crouched in the ferns, nothing of herself visible, only the hood of the bear pelt she wore rose above the foliage. The sky children stood around a large bonfire, cheering. She watched with curiosity as one of the dark-skinned boys limped through the crowd, pushing his way to the center.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

Kira couldn't help, but hiss. They spoke the language of the Mountain Men.

The only adult answered: "We're liberating ourselves. What does it look like?"

"It looks like you're trying to get us all killed," Wells sneered. "The communication system is dead. These wristbands are all we got; take them off and the ark will think we're dying, that it's not safe for them to follow."

Bellamy wanted to strangle the kid. _That's the point. Everyone here got it but him._ "We can take care of ourselves. Can't we?" he asked the kids and was answered by cheers.

"This isn't a game!" Wells tried again. "Those aren't just our parents, our friends up there. Those are our farmers, our doctors. I don't care what he tells you. We won't survive her on our own."

Bellamy tried to quickly come up with a response that would preserve his position as leader. The kid had a point, but Bellamy wanted to live. More than anything, he wanted to save himself and maybe have a real life in the process.

Kira looked up at the sky and began crawling backwards. It was going to rain and the tensions among the sky people were rising; something Kira did not want to be caught in the middle of. She made it back to her makeshift shelter just as the thunder rolled in. One of her walls was the exterior rock-face of what would open as a cave just a mile north. The other wall was also her roof that she had thatched herself. Inside the lean-to-type structure, Fenrir was sleeping with his muzzle buried in his paws. Kira joined him just in time to avoid becoming drenched and remain warm.

Only a mile away, Bellamy let the rain wash over him. He had never experienced anything like it before. He looked up at the sky as the water poured down his face and into his mouth. He didn't even mind the cold. And for the first time in his entire life, he allowed himself to feel hope.

⃝⃝⃝

Kira woke up with the sun as she always did, but instead of going to check on the sky people, she went in the opposite direction towards the Trikru. She tread lightly through the forest, sword on her back and spear grasped lightly in her right hand. Fenrir walked several paces ahead, scouting for her. He could spot a human before she could and right now anyone, a sky person or a tree person, would kill her.

The air was thick and humid although they were well into autumn and winter would be coming on. She moved as silently as she could, listening to everything. A bead of sweat ran down the side of her face. The pelt was thick, heavy enough to keep her body warm although she wore no shirt. Kira walked for miles until the change in the trees told her she was at the border of what the Trikru defended as their land. The woman didn't dare take one step further. Before she could decide where to go from there, she heard sky people. They were far away still, but the careless way they trampled through the forest gave away their position and identity. Kira crouched beside the base of a tree and waited for them to pass. Four kids ran by; two girls and two boys. Kira recognized the blonde girl as one of the group that went off yesterday. Her eyes followed the blonde as they group disappeared between the trees. The group was missing a boy. Surprised that the group had only lost one of their number, Kira changed the direction of her mission. If he was still alive, they would have put him in the hunting pit. It would have been far safer and less of a distance to go back to her hut, but Kira had never been known for her good decision making. In fact Kira knew herself well enough to know she never thought about her actions enough to call them decisions. She did what she felt compelled to do and then dealt with the consequences. She growled to herself as she headed towards the hunting pit. Her impulsiveness is what had put her here in the first place, but even that didn't change her mind about finding the boy.

At the dropship, Bellamy was beginning to realize how hard it would be to maintain control when a girl screamed in pain. He cursed to himself and left Atom and Wells to see what was going on. To his disgust, Murphy was holding a girl over a fire. Wells appeared behind him and rushing past, tacked Murphy from the girl. The boy tried to fight Wells, but he was clearly outmatched. _Dammit, Murphy_ , Bellamy growled in his head. It was then that he noticed the knife in the delinquent's hand.

"Wait," he intervened, not wanting to witness the boy be murdered in cold blood. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his own knife, tossing it at Wells's feet. "Fair fight."

Still, Murphy was outmatched. It would not do to have a kid that couldn't beat the chancellor's son as his right hand. Bellamy decided things would have to change as Wells held the knife given to him against Murphy's throat. He began to look away, not wanting to witness a kid dying, even if it was a shit head like Murphy at the hands of a shit head like Wells. Bellamy's attention was diverted though at the return of the Mount Weather task force and blondie demanding Murphy's safety. Bellamy scoffed. That would come back to bite her in the ass.

"Where's the food?" Bellamy demanded, trying to bring the attention to himself; the leader.

"We didn't make it. We were attacked," Blondie explained.

"By what?" Wells asked.

Spacewalker shook his head. "Not what. Who."

Bellamy's heart dropped into his stomach. There were people on the ground. Survivors. That would complicate things. Trying to keep a group of kids this large in line was already tough enough. How could they possibly combat an outside threat? _The fuck am I gonna do?_ he thought, trying desperately to think of a quick, if only temporary solution.

"Where's the kid with the goggles?" Wells asked, pointing out that one of them was missing.

"Jasper was hit," Blondie explained.

 _This shit can't get any worse,_ Bellamy sighed. He waited for girl to finish her speech. Sure, she had facts, but he had charisma. They liked him.


	2. Chapter 2

Kira whistled through her teeth and Fenrir stopped walking. The grounder took two more steps so that she was standing beside the wolf, near enough that his fur tickled her leg. She pat his head, reassuring herself that he was not defensive. If the animal was calm, it meant there were no predators nearby. In the center of the clearing, just as she predicted, was a boy tied to the tree. He was shirtless and bloody with vines around his torso and wrists, but his wound had been tended to. There were plenty of traps between her and the tree, but she knew where all of them were. It wasn't a problem because she was not attempting to get to the tree. Her curiosity satisfied, she turned her back on the boy. Cutting him down would be too great of a risk. She had already put herself in danger by moving this far into Trikru territory.

The boy groaned and the wolf barked. Kira hesitated; it hurt her to hear someone in so much pain. She took a breath and swallowed and then walked away. It was not her problem. Yet as she moved a new question was raised. She saw what the people of the trees had done with him, but how long would he last? Would his people come for him?

"Get," she ordered the wolf and scaled the nearest tree that still gave her a view of the hunting pit. Kira spotted the blonde girl from before, not far off from her position. She was with four other by the river, but they were too far away still to see properly. Kira clutched the branch with her thighs as she strained forward. The air that was calm on the ground was a violent wind at her altitude.

The wind though, carried the voices to her instead of wiping them out. "Now would be a good time to get out that gun," Kira heard a female voice say.

Kira gulped; she was safe because they would never see her up there, but the mention of a gun still frightened her. These sky people were seeming more and more dangerous. They spoke like the Mountain Men, they carried the same weapons. Perhaps they weren't going to be her new people as she originally thought.

The boy moaned again and the group hurried to follow his voice. As they approached, Kira was able to see them better. Alongside the blonde girl was the long-haired boy from before, the black kid from the bonfire, a boy Kira didn't recognize, and finally their leader. His hair was no longer slicked back, but fell casually above his eyes.

 _Not him_ , Kira worried as they stepped into the clearing.

"Jasper?" the blonde girl cried. "Oh my god, Jasper."

"Clarke, be careful!" The long-haired boy tried to hold her back.

Jasper. Clarke. Kira committed the names to memory.

"What the hell is this?" Bellamy asked as they began walking towards the gruesome sight. Clarke stepped on weak ground and instinctively, Bellamy reached out to grab her as she fell. He caught her arm as she dangled above a pit of spears. It would be so easy to let her slip.

"Get her up!" Finn yelled, but the man barely heard it.

 _One accident and his life would be safe from the ark. She was heavier than expected_. The other guys rushed to his side and helped him lift her from the pit.

Kira drew a knife from her boot at the commotion. She would have given anything for her bow and a couple arrows. _Why did she leave it behind?_ Her aim had always been perfect. Whether it was an arrow, a spear, or a blade, Kira would always hit her target. The problem was that she liked this knife and she didn't want to waste it saving the life of someone she didn't know.

A growl came from the tree line and Kira adjusted her grip on the blade.

"What the hell was that?" Murphy asked, trying to hide his panic.

"Grounders?" Bellamy suggested although he knew it wasn't. That noise wasn't even remotely human.

Kira watched in horror as the panther revealed itself. The kids below her seemed frozen in fear as the animal ran towards them. "Bellamy! Gun!" Clarke shouted and the leader reached for a weapon. Kira snarled sounding quite similar to the beast. By the time her knife would make it to the creature, the cute one would already be dead. It was pointless.

Bellamy's hand grasped air and for the first time since they landed he truly felt panic. This wasn't just losing the kids' trust. He was about to lose his life. The echo of gunshots startled him and he looked up to see Wells holding his weapon. He hadn't even noticed the kid take it from him. _He should have been a thief_ , Bellamy scoffed, regaining his composure as the animal fell out of the air, mid-pounce. He couldn't believe it, Wells just saved his life. He didn't want to dwell on it. He wanted to get Jasper and get the fuck out of there, back to camp.

Kira let out a sigh of relief and then bit her tongue, surprised that she let out an audible sound. In fact, she was impressed with the black boy. He was too young for her to think he was cute, but he reacted like a grounder. She put away her knife and shimmied down the tree. Her feet planted firmly on the ground, she wanted to find Fenrir, but didn't dare whistle in case the sky people heard her. Kira began heading back towards her shelter, knowing it was still hours away. She grabbed her spear from where she had planted it in the dirt before climbing the tree, thanking the goddess that it was still there.

The sun set and the temperature plummeted. Kira could see her breath, but didn't mind under her pelt. She whistled for Fenrir, but no animal responded. Fear found its way to Kira, closing her chest. _Did the panther kill him?_ She knew it hadn't, she would have heard the wolf fighting, but fear was not a reasonable thing. The woman picked up her pace, not caring if she was seen. She whistled again, pushing through the forest, jumping over roots and breaking branches as she headed towards her tent.

The journey back to camp was slower for the sky people, not arriving at the dropship until well after dark. Bellamy and Murphy carried their kill in the parachute Wells had packed while Wells and Finn carried Jasper.

 _Fresh meat_ , Bellamy thought as they gently placed it down. He was happy to get rid of it, his arms aching and drenched in sweat, but he would never show it. Already a plan was formulating in his head as he basked in the cool light of the moon. _They're gonna think I'm a hero._ "Who's hungry?!" he asked and was answered with cheers as he often was.

He looked over and saw Octavia, smiling. He reached out and drew her towards him, placing his chin on top of her head. He would have to be more careful, he had almost lost her twice now. _Who would take care of her if he died?_ He smiled with his arm around his baby sister's shoulders.

⃝⃝⃝

Fenrir was not in Kira's tent either. She let out a cry of frustration, throwing her spear against the rock wall in anger. It snapped in half, but she was too upset to care. There was a lump in her throat that prevented her from crying. Her stomach churned as she ran in direction of the Skikru's camp and her thoughts were preoccupied with not vomiting. Kira scoffed when she saw the dropship; surrounding it was what looked like the beginning of a wall, but it was a pathetic wall. She chuckled to herself and wiped her nose on her forearm, sniffling away the sadness. She sat in the grass with her arms resting on her knees, watching the kids line up. The glow of the fire made it look arm and homely as they traded their matching bracelets for chunks of meat. One didn't though and then Clarke didn't. Another made to grab for meat and Kira thought there might be anarchy. She should reveal herself now, before all hell broke loose.

Bellamy caught the kid's wrist before he touched the food. _How dare they defy him_. He swung at the kid and his fist connected with the boy's jaw. He glowered as he watched Clarke and Finn walk away. If they thought they could remove him as leader, they had another thing coming. No one wanted to get hurt. As he simmered in anger, he realized his sister and Atom were both missing.

It satisfied Bellamy to see Atom hanging in the tree. He told Atom no one touches his sister and the kid went off and decided to make out with Octavia.

"You guys aren't just going to leave me here," Atom begged.

"No, Atom, I won't be disobeyed," Bellamy replied. There would be rules. His rules.

Kira watched Bellamy leave the fire and realized she had missed her opportunity. She felt a soft head rest itself against her leg and looking down, she saw Fenrir. She cried out and threw her arms around the animal's neck, burying her face in his gray fur. "I thought I lost you," she whimpered.

Fenrir's only response was continued panting.

The grounder picked herself up off the ground and brushed the dirt from her leather pants. "Let's go home," she smiled at the wolf and he trotted beside her back to the tent.


	3. Chapter 3

Kira could hear the kid screaming from her tent and couldn't help but think that someone should put him out of his misery. The scent of death caused Kira to put down the arrows she was making and leave the safety of the shelter. Not five feet away, Fenrir had caught a deer. The wolf had dragged it back to camp and was waiting patiently with his head down for Kira to accept it. Kira knelt down by the carcass and sunk her teeth into the deer's shoulder. Blood erupted, covering her mouth and running down her chin, but she didn't pull away until it was with a chunk of meat between her teeth. She sat back and chewed in silence as the wolf stepped forward and began eating. On her own, she often ate meat raw, knowing it was not always safe to start a fire, but today she was willing to risk it the smoke. She allowed the wolf to eat about half of the hindquarters before taking the animal away. Kira rinsed the blood from her chin before preparing the deer to be eaten properly. She used a long-handled knife to remove the skin, sliding it effortlessly along the side of the deer. As the skin peeled back to reveal the muscle, Kira realized she would be able to feed herself for nearly a week. The thought of food made her stomach grumble, making it harder to concentrate on her actions. She struggled to cut through the flesh as her head pounded, not sure if it was from hunger or the incessant chirping of the birds. Kira growled, startling Fenrir.

The wolf whimpered and moved away, but only for a moment before he began pacing, warning Kira of approaching humans. It looked like the sky-people were hungry too. Kira considered leaving her shelter to hide, but looking at the half-skinned carcass changed her mind.

 _Screw the Skikru._ She was going to eat her own food. She needed to or survival would become impossible. Kira pulled her pelt higher up on her shoulders with a sigh as she returned to her task; she was tired of barely surviving, of being an animal. She would cook this deer even if it killed her.

Not a mile off, Bellamy was struggling with his own food. He was closing in on the boar, when a twig snapped behind him. Instinctively, he threw his hatchet. It landed in a trunk with a dull thud. A little, blonde girl stood next to the tree his axe had buried itself in. He was so startled to see her that he barely noticed the boar running away and the others chasing after it. Bellamy had thought she was a grounder; in fact he had hoped she was. He needed to find one, find out what they would be up against. Instead, it was a thirteen year old kid from the ark.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

"Charlotte," she answered defiantly, holding her chin up.

Her attitude made him smirk. "I almost killed you," he took the hatchet from the tree. "Why aren't you back at camp?"

"That dying guy- I couldn't listen anymore," she explained.

He considered telling her to go back anyway, but she reminded him of Octavia. If Charlotte was anything like his sister, she would leave, but not go back to camp. It looked like he would be babysitting. He led Atom and the girl back to the group, but the boar had long since disappeared. His eyes scanned the area, looking for any sign to track it with. Small dribbles of blood marked the leaves.

"Did you guys hit it?" he asked, but they all shook their heads.

Carefully, he trod over to the blood. He stuck his small finger into the red droplet. It hadn't yet begun to coagulate and was warm against his skin. "This way," he told his crew just as a flock of birds flew by them. They were fleeing and it didn't take long to see what from. An orange cloud of fog was headed toward them, enveloping everything in its path. He didn't need to order them to run. "There are caves this way!" he shouted as he sprinted through trees.

Kira heard them running: first the bugs, then the birds, followed lastly by the four-legged creatures of the woods. She called Fenrir inside the tent just before she heard people rushing by along with the bellow of the fog-horn. It was a group of at least three that was running, the leader ahead of the rest, and Kira's house was right in the middle of it all. None of them noticed her, hidden in the foliage. She considered inviting them in, unable to imagine the pain of one's skin melting off, but hid in silence as the air became tinted orange. Kira hadn't spoken to a human other than her brother in six years; she couldn't find words for the sky people. Her ears could no longer pick up the sound of branches snapping and leaves crunching and while the fog muted everything, she heard no screams either. Pretending like everything was alright, she returned to preserving the meat she hadn't yet eaten.

Bellamy had been able to pull Charlotte into a cave, but Atom was lost. He had stopped screaming, but he could still hear the boy's voice in his head, calling his name. Night fell and Bellamy closed his eyes, but the sharp wall of the cave dug into his back. It was cold and he could feel dampness seeping in through his shirt. While he struggled to pass the time, he found himself wondering about the blood. Whatever had left that trail had been severely injured, but he had seen no body, animal or human. Something in his gut told him it wasn't human, though, that the grounders were a lot closer than the river. He wanted to investigate further, but the trail would no doubt be gone by the time the sun came up. He looked over at a sleeping Charlotte, envying her. She wasn't worried about blood and killers and seemed comfortable enough on her stone bed. Until she started screaming.

⃝⃝⃝

Kira squatted by the entrance to her tent, balancing on the balls of her feet. The fog cleared a couple hours before sunrise, but the grounder didn't move. Her eyes scanned the forest for any sign of survivors. Slowly, the forest began to fill with a warm, yellow light.

"Anybody out here?" she heard a man's voice call, although he sounded far away, probably by the entrance to the cave. Kira didn't move, didn't respond. He wasn't talking to her. "Jones?" the voice clarified.

"We're here!" came the response.

Then Kira heard nothing. Realizing these strangers kept surrounding her outpost, she should have moved; destroyed the shelter and built another one, miles away. But that would mean she would have had to start over, learn new ground. Besides, there were less than 100. If they came at her, she could kill them all. Minutes passed and then a little girl screamed. Kira grabbed bow and quiver and sprinted into the open. She slung the quiver on her back as she ran towards the sound. She didn't care if they were sky people or tree people, no one should hurt a pup. Kira skidded to a halt, breaking more leaves than she meant to when she found the source of the screaming. It was a young, sky girl and not a yard from her feet was the body of another boy. His skin was blistered and peeling, informing Kira that he had gotten trapped in the fog last night. The little one wasn't in immediate danger so Kira lingered back, hidden behind a tree.

Bellamy appeared behind Charlotte and Kira smiled; he had survived the fog. Jones and the others were coming up behind him, but something was making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He noticed Atom and gently moved Charlotte back from the gruesome sight. _One problem at a time_. Bellamy ignored the warning of his instincts and moved to kneel next to the boy. He was struggling to breathe and his eyes had been completely burned, appearing entirely white.

"Kill me," Atom gasped. "Kill me,"

Bellamy gulped. He never meant to be a murderer, how could he kill one of his own? He felt the cool touch of metal against his hand and saw Charlotte offering his knife back. By now the rest of the group had caught up and they all watched him expectantly. The leader considered his options, carefully. _Would Clarke be able to save him? How would they get him back to camp?_

Kira was intrigued. A group of five now stood around the dying boy, none of them making a move to fulfill his wishes. The Trikru would have killed him as soon as they saw he was useless. _The kid's fight is over, let him die._ Kira wanted to do it for him, but the boy was not her people and it was not her place.

"Go back to camp," Bellamy ordered. "Charlotte, you too."

The grounder was impressed by how well they listened. From what she observed, the sky people didn't like being told what to do. Yet the three turned and left on command; only the little on hesitated. Kira's began moving forward, without realizing her actions. She knew she had wanted to get a better look, but now she saw how nervous the man was. It was a good opportunity to talk to him, although now that he was vulnerable, he didn't seem nearly as attractive as he did when he was barking orders. Kira froze when she saw the blonde girl over Bellamy's shoulder.

Clarke rushed forward and Bellamy looked up. He started, thinking there was someone standing behind her, but when he tilted his head to get a better look around her shoulder, there was no one there. He shook his head, focusing back on Atom. He could have sworn there was a naked woman standing between the trees. He would have taken a naked grounder over the princess any day.

"I heard screams," Clarke demanded an explanation.

"Charlotte found him," Bellamy explained, still glancing over her shoulder, wondering if he had imagined the woman. "I sent her back to camp."

Clarke looked at Atom and then back at Bellamy and shook her head.

He understood that she meant she couldn't save him and Bellamy's stomach sank, not sure if he could do this.

Kira growled and kicked the base of a tree. She was stupid. She was reckless. He had nearly spotted her. And what would he have done? The leader of the Skikru against a savage? She turned her back on them, deciding they weren't a threat if they didn't know she existed.

⃝⃝⃝

Bellamy felt like he kept fucking up as Octavia stormed away from him. He tried to explain Atom's death, but she wouldn't even look at him. "Lose anyone here?" he asked Murphy.

"No," the boy sniffed, looking like he wanted to say something else.

"Jasper?"

"Still breathing, barely," Murphy said. "I tried to end it, but your psycho little sister-"

Bellamy reached out and grabbed Murphy by the jacket, anger boiling inside of him. "My what?" he demanded. "My what?" If Murphy wasn't his right hand man, he would have punched him square in the face and maybe a few more times after that.

"Your little sister," Murphy corrected himself, shoving away from Bellamy.

"Yeah, that's right," Bellamy growled. "My little sister. Got anything else you wanna say about her?"

"Nothing. Sorry," the boy huffed.

"Get him out of here," Bellamy ordered referring to Atom's body and then walked away. He was surrounded by idiots. Kids. If they were adults and not angsty teens it would have been easier, but then again he wouldn't be in charge. He sat outside the camp with his back against the wall. He watched the forest, but it was too dark to see anything properly and he began thinking about the grounders again. Clearly they were dangerous after nearly murdering Jasper, but he wondered how they ran their civilization. The train of thought continued to the woman from earlier. If she was real, why hadn't she attacked him when he was alone?

Kira sat cross-legged, her new spear across her lap resting her head on Fenrir's neck. She was merely yards from the Skikru camp, taunting them, knowing she was protected by the shadows from the trees. They had no idea she was there and yet in four strides she would be able to plunge her spear into Bellamy's chest. He may have turned out to be too weak to be a mate, but he was still attractive and Kira was always down to spread her legs if the guy was cute enough. Of course, that's part of why she was in this predicament in the first place.

"Hey," she whispered to herself. "Hi. Hello." She growled in frustration. They all sounded wrong. "Kira," she tired her own name as though she was introducing herself. "I'm Kira. My name's Kira. It's hopeless!" she groaned and looked at the wolf for support. "Well fuck you, too," she grumbled, resigned to the fact that her clan, her pack, was limited to a single wolf.


	4. Chapter 4

Kira saw the man long before he saw her. She saw only his silhouette, but knew from the way he moved that he was not a sky person. She moved closer, crawling along the forest floor until she was near enough to see. Kira recognized the strongly built man and pounced. She pulled him to the ground and he struck her, trying to get free. But Kira was nimble and able to pull herself on top of him. She pinned the man by holding a knife to his throat.

"Kira," he grinned up at her in relief as he removed the mask covering his mouth.

She smiled back. "Lincoln." She sheathed her blade before helping him off the ground. He was the only one she ever talked to anymore and even then she wouldn't see him for weeks, sometimes months.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Shouldn't I be asking you?" She laughed.

He glared at his twin sister. "I meant about the sky people."

"I know what you meant," Kira shrugged. "We haven't crossed paths," she lied. "They took some of my hunting grounds, but Fenrir and I will survive." She bent down and picked up her spear which she had dropped during her attack. When she looked back, Lincoln was still glaring at her, arms crossed. One would think he was the older brother, but she preceded him by five hours and was by far the better killer. Even six years after being banished, her kill marks still outnumbered his. "You're still here?" She sneered.

"You want me to go?" He asked.

"Well you're scouting them aren't you?"

Lincoln knit his eyebrows together. "What makes you say that?"

Kira only glared at him.

"Fine," he held up his hands in defeat. "I am. Take care, Kira." He kissed his sister's forehead before returned his mask to his face. She watched sadly as he walked away. Her love for her brother knew no bounds but that didn't erase her feelings of bitterness. She knew that he loved her too, but he didn't defend her when the clan chose to banish her for her crimes.

Lincoln headed in the direction of Trikru territory and Kira moved to go after him, but stopped when she heard shouting coming from the Skikru camp. The wall, now half finished, was only a nuisance to Kira. A mob had gathered around a boy and they were lifting him into a tree, tied to a rope. Upon closer inspection, Kira realized they boy's wrists had been bound and gagged and the others were trying to hang him. The kid was currently propped up on some sort of box, but his toes were barely touching it.

"Bellamy, you should do it!" one of the kids shouted and the group quieted down of a second. It no longer seemed like chaos as a chant of their leaders name arose.

Kira watched the man, wondering if he was too scared like before when his friend was dying.

"Don't do this!" Clarke begged him. "I know you're not a killer!"

 _The fuck did she know?_ He pushed away from her towards Murphy. Bellamy didn't want to kill Murphy, even if he was a shithead. But if he didn't do it, someone else probably would and he would have to deal with them. He couldn't risk it. Trying not to think about what he was doing, he kicked the box out from under Murphy. His neck didn't break and he dangled there, writhing in pain. "This is on you, Princess!" Bellamy shouted at the girl, blaming her for killing his friend. "You should have kept your mouth shut!"

Kira smirked from her spot in a tree. Maybe she had underestimated their leader. Sentencing his right-hand man to death was pretty ruthless. She saw him shouting at Clarke and recognized his expression of anger, it was one she wore herself many times.

They were interrupted by another kid, demanding the criminal to be cut down. It was chaos and Kira decided it was a good thing she had never made herself known. There was no way a group this disorganized could survive the fast approaching winter.

"Just stop okay?" shouted the same little girl Kira found screaming a couple days ago. "Murphy didn't kill Wells! I did!"

Silence fell over the crowd as Kira laughed. She bit her tongue so that no one would hear her and wished desperately that she hadn't sent Lincoln away. It was a story you couldn't make up.

Bellamy stood stunned, his heart in his throat. He couldn't move. Clarke took his axe to cut down Murphy and others pushed past him to help, but he just stood there. _Not little Charlotte._ When he finally understood what was going on, he moved her into his tent along with the group he had seen as his adversaries.

Murphy, the boy who had previously been hung, gathered a group of his own and stood outside of his leader's tent. Kira knew that she should leave, but couldn't take her eyes away. She needed every detail to tell Lincoln the next time she saw him. Bellamy had decided to protect the little one, a parental quality that Kira admired, but he should have killed those that were opposing his decision. A good leader would have enforced his policy to assert his power.

"Bring out the girl, Bellamy!" Murphy shouted.

Bellamy emerged from the tent, ready to address the other idiots.

"Look who decided to join us," Murphy sneered.

The man sighed. The princess caused this mess and now he had to clean it up. It was like they were still on the ark. "Dial it down and back off," he ordered.

"Or what? You gonna hang me?" the boy challenged.

Kira growled, not sure why she was worrying about a man that wasn't hers; a man that she was sure she didn't know she existed.

"So who here wants to see the real murderer hung up?" Murphy asked the crowd.

Bellamy looked around nervously, praying they wouldn't lynch a thirteen year old. Not sure if he could see the answer, his eyes flicked upwards to the forest canopy. The hairs on the back of his neck, warning him that they weren't alone. He knew he was imagining it, there was no one in the trees, but it still made him uneasy. He needed to end this, and quickly so that they could finish the wall.

Only four kids raised their hands; all of them Bellamy's cronies.

Kira scoffed. The girl was old enough to know what murder was; she knew what she had done. The Triku would have already arrested her with an execution set for sundown.

"I see, it's alright to string me up for nothing, but when this little bitch confesses, you all want to let her walk?!" Murphy shouted. "Cowards! You're all cowards!"

It took all of Bellamy's will power not to roll his eyes. They wanted him hanged because he was a jerk. He pissed on John #2 and didn't expect there to be consequences. These were the consequences. "Murphy! Murphy!" Bellamy shouted back, getting him to stop. "It's over."

"Whatever you say, boss," the boy sneered back with a sarcastic shrug.

Kira watched the dim-witted leader turn his back, believing the fight to be over. _You never turn your back_ , she thought. As if to prove her point, Murphy picked up part of a branch and hit Bellamy from behind, knocking him out. Kira dropped out of the tree, landing on her feet like a cat. She looked up from her landing and saw three sky people merging from a hole in the incomplete wall. Clarke. Finn. Charlotte. She knew of them all. They stared back at her and Kira recognized the look of terror in their eyes. Normally she loved the look of fear on another's face, but knew this was not the time for a conflict. Kira held up her hands, showing that she meant no harm as she took several paces back, allowing them to pass. Without a word the three ran from her and the camp. She should have killed them; they'd out her as soon as their internal conflict blew over. She placed a hand on the hilt of a knife hanging on her hip, rubbing her thumb over the smooth wood, the same way she often pet Fenrir. She could still go after them.

"She let us go," Clarke breathed in disbelief. "Do you think the camp's in trouble?"

"I doubt it," Finn responded. "She was alone. If she wanted to kill us, why not start with us three?"

Clarke shrugged. "But she was a grounder. Should could have been the one who hurt Jasper."

"Once again; I doubt it. If she's been scouting the area with bad intentions, she could have killed me a dozen times. I'm always out here alone. Besides, what about her seemed threatening?" Finn asked.

The girl grimaced. He had a point. They knew now that it wasn't a grounder that killed Wells and Jasper had been speared twenty miles from camp. "I don't know, maybe the tattoos? The bear pelt? Grounders _are_ dangerous, Finn."

"Fine, if it makes you feel better, we'll tell Bellamy there's a lonely, topless girl skulking around outside of camp when we get back. It's right up his alley," Finn smirked at his friend.

Clarke chuckled and hit his chest for making an inappropriate joke in front of Charlotte. Their moment was interrupted, though, by Murphy's voice. "We should run."

"We could do that or we could go with my plan." Finn brushed away some leaves and opened a small hatch; the entrance to the art supply store.

⃝⃝⃝

Kira stepped out from the shadows into the moonlight, stopping Charlotte in her tracks. "Please don't hurt me," the little girl squeaked. She wasn't sure what to think of the woman in front of her. She wasn't wearing a shirt; girls should always wear shirts, but instead of it being awkward, it made her scarier.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Kira said gently, kneeling down to be on her level. "You're running to protect you and your friends, right?"

The girl nodded.

She wasn't really a pup, old enough to be a Trikru warrior, but Kira wanted to take care of her anyway. "Well don't go this way, grounders will kill you."

"But that way, Murphy will kill me," Charlotte sniffed, pointing back towards camp. "What do I do?"

"Go back to your friends; they want to help you," Kira told her. "Shhh- someone's coming." She shoved Charlotte back against a tree before the girl could respond. Kira peered out from the trunk and recognized Bellamy. "It's your leader," Kira whispered. "Be brave. Stay strong." And with those words, she disappeared back into the darkness

"Charlotte!" Bellamy cried and grabbed her. "Com one we gotta go."

The girl shook her head, dragging her heals as Bellamy pulled her along. "Let me go!"

"What is wrong with you?" Bellamy hissed. "I'm trying to help."

"This isn't your fight. I have to be brave," she cried. "She said so."

Bellamy sighed, giving in. "Who said so?"

"The bear-lady," Charlotte explained. "Now let me go!"

"Bear-lady?" Bellamy's mind flashed back to the topless woman with a bear pelt. He hadn't thought of her in days, having convinced himself she was as stress-induced mirage. "A grounder told you to turn yourself in?"

Charlotte shook her head violently. "She said 'be brave, stay strong,'" she told him, omitting the fact the woman also told her to go back to Finn and Clarke.

"Charlotte you can't hide forever!" Murphy's voice echoed through the trees.

"That means don't turn yourself in." Bellamy renewed his efforts and began tugging on her arm again.

"I'm not your sister. Stop helping me," Charlotte hissed and began running towards Murphy. "I'm over here!"

Bellamy nearly tackled her. "What are you doing? Are you trying to get us both killed?" She was resigned to getting herself killed so Bellamy picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. _Save Charlotte. Kill Murphy. Find the bear-lady._ He never thought he would have a to-do list. The lynch mob chased them to a cliff, cornering the two of them.

"Give her up, Bellamy, you can't fight all of us," Murphy said.

Bellamy looked at who the kid had brought with him. "Maybe not, but I guarantee I could take a few of you with me." It looked like he wouldn't get to solve the mystery of the bear-woman, but it didn't matter if it meant saving Charlotte. It was his fault Octavia was arrested and there was no way he was letting that happen twice.

"Stop!" Clarke appeared between Bellamy and Murphy. "This has gone too far, we'll talk about this."

Murphy wasn't having it and threatened Clarke's life. Bellamy had to admit it was a smart move; the princess for the kid.

"No!" Charlotte spoke up. "I can't let anyone else get hurt because of me. Not after what I did." She turned and took two steps, diving off the cliff.

Bellamy lunged after her, but he was too late. She was gone. It felt like the world was crashing down around him. He had failed. Murphy was so dead.

Kira watched the sky people move back to camp without Charlotte and without Murphy, somewhat disappointed. She didn't dwell on it long, though because something else was falling from the sky. This time, she didn't bother wishing. She turned her back on it as it crashed into the ground, sending a pillar of smoke back into the sky.


	5. Chapter 5

Bellamy snuck out of camp, convinced they all believed he would put together a task force in the morning. Hopefully this pod's comms were fried just like in the dropship and this would be a simple recon mission. The pod had crashed not too far from the river, but still within the forest. Looking out from the other side of the shore, it would have been hidden. Directly in front of Bellamy, though, it looked like it could have only held one person, two max. Bellamy hesitated at the tree line, scanning the area for grounders particular. In truth he was looking for the elusive woman. If she was involved in everything else they had done, she should be here now. Yet as he emerged from his place in the trees, he was missing the sensation of someone watching him. He sprinted to the pod and tried to open the door, but it was stuck. He latched his fingers under the handle wincing in pain at the still-hot metal and heaved. With a grunt, both from him and the pod, the door swung up and open.

Inside was a women, but as Bellamy approached, invading her personal space, he changed his mind. _She's just another kid_. She hung forward in her seat, kept in place by her seatbelt, barely. At least she was unconscious. Bellamy's eyes scanned the interior of the pod and found the radio beside the girl. That was all he came for. He cut it free and ran before she woke up. The thought of killing her hurt him, but if he had to he would.

Kira dipped herself into the river, the cold water peeling away the dirt that had invaded her pores. The floor of the river squished beneath her feet and she dug her toes into the mud, pulling them free with a satisfying pop like she had when she was a kid. Fenrir waited for her on the shore, actively avoiding the water. He refused to go swimming anymore and it saddened Kira to admit how old he was. She found him as a pup, the runt abandoned by his mother. Kira cared for the wolf since she had no one else and refused to believe he probably only had another year left in him.

Bellamy came barreling through the tree line merely yards away from Kira and launched the radio into the water. As it left his hand, he immediately felt a weight lift off his chest. It landed in the water with a large splash and he watched contentedly as the water rippled outward when his eyes connected with another's. She stood half out of the water, breasts exposed and had hair shorter than his own. He stared at her for a second before realizing he recognized that tattoos that started on her chin and spread down her neck to her shoulders and arms.

"Hey!" Bellamy called when he spotted her, but she immediately began to run. "Wait!" He ran after her, sloshing through the river bank, not noticing that his feet were becoming soaked. She left the river, not bothering to dress as she ran into the forest. "Wait!" he yelled again after the grounder as though she was one of his that would listen to his orders. She moved quicker than he imagined anyone could and in no time lost her in the forest. He let out a growl of frustration. He had been so close that he could tell she was close to his age, but she fled and now was probably going back to the other grounders.

Kira froze the moment the sky person appeared, praying that he wouldn't notice her, but when Bellamy's eyes reached hers, she panicked. She sprang out of the water, grabbed her things and ran, not caring that she was still completely nude. Only when she was sure that he was no longer following her, did she stop to catch her breath. She shimmied into her pants, ignoring the way the leather stuck to her wet skin, and shoved her feet into her shoes, hopping on one foot at a time to get them on. The cold air bit at the droplets of water on her and she pulled the pelt around her shoulders. She couldn't even remember what it felt like to wear a shirt. Angry at herself for panicking, she threw a knife and, liking the sound of the blade sinking into the trunk, she threw another. Finally satisfied, she pulled the knives free and slowly walked back to her own encampment.

Between the trees, Kira spotted her brother before he saw her. She sprinted up to him and noticed he was carrying someone over his shoulder. Upon closer inspection, Kira recognized the girl as Bellamy's sister. "What are you doing?" she hissed at Lincoln.

"I found her like this," he explained the girl's unconscious state, but didn't slow his pace. "If I left her, the others would kill her."

"They'll kill you," Kira warned.

"Only if they find out," Lincoln responded.

Kira sighed and walked alongside him, knowing that it was a lost cause. Once Lincoln made up his mind, he was impossible to sway. "They're crazy ya'know," Kira commented after a moment of silence.

"What do you mean?" her brother grunted.

"The other day, when I saw you, shit went down at Skikru camp," Kira explained. "They thought this one guy killed someone else, so they tried lynching him, but while he was dangling from a tree a little girl admitted to the murder. So they cut him down and the first guy tries to lynch the girl, but the leaders protect the girl and smuggle her out of camp. The first guy gets a group of people together, they march through the forest all night looking for the girl, they find her, and she jumps off the cliff."

Lincoln laughed. "You just made that up."

"Swear to god, it happened," Kira shook her head. "Ask your friend when she wakes up."

Lincoln chuckled again, but as he continued to walk, Kira stood her ground. "You're not coming?" he asked.

Kira refused to cross the border. "Don't really feel like dying."

The man nodded, an awkward silence falling between them.

"Be careful, little brother," Kira told him and then darted off the way they had come.

⃝⃝⃝

"Bellamy!" Clarke's voice invaded his thoughts as he walked back to camp. He turned around to acknowledge her voice, but didn't stop walking. "Where is it?"

"Hey, princess, you taking a walk in the woods?" Bellamy asked, finally stopping.

"They're getting ready to kill 300 people up there to save oxygen and I can guarantee you it won't be council members," Clarke hissed.

 _Shit._ He felt nauseous; he had no idea that was happening on the ark.

Finn came out of nowhere and shoved him. "Where's the radio?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Bellamy lied, shoving back.

"Bellamy Blake?" another girl interrupted and he could only assume it was the girl from the pod. "They're looking everywhere for you."

"Shut up," he responded, disregarding her.

"Why?" Clarke had to ask.

"He shot Chancellor Jaha," Raven explained.

Bellamy glared at her; he wanted to punch her in her smug little face. He rolled his eyes at Clarke as she jumped on the bandwagon and began walking away.

"Hey, shooter, where's my radio?" the girl from the pod demanded, following after him.

"Get out of my way," he sighed, wishing he could trade them all for the woman grounder. He took her by the shoulders and swung her around, grabbing her throat. She reacted casually, holding a knife in his face.

"Where's my radio?" she demanded again.

Resigned to defeat, Bellamy let her go. "Jaha deserved to die."

"He's not dead," Raven informed him.

Bellamy stopped walking and princess took the opportunity to keep talking: "This means you're not a murder!" she told him. "You're a protector, so protect 300 of your people. Where's the radio?"

"It's too late," he murmured more to himself than the others. He was a murderer. He showed them to the spot in the river where he had thrown it, knowing it would do no good. 300 people would be dead because he was selfish. He watched them desperately walk through the shallow stream while he remained where it was dry.

"Bellamy, we need to talk," Clarke said as they waded around in the water.

"I told you, I didn't know," he growled back at her. She was never going to let it go, just to prove she was better than him.

She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "It's not about that. There's been a girl hanging around camp; a grounder."

"I know."

It took her a minute to process what he said. She stood their blinking before she huffed at him. "You know? You know! And you didn't say anything?"

"She's not a threat," Bellamy shrugged. "She's alone. She hasn't tried to hurt anyone. Why should we bother?"

Clarke shook her head, incredulous. "You don't know that! Did you know about her when Jasper was hit? What about when Wells was murdered?"

"Wells was killed by Charlotte or have you forgotten the kid that committed suicide? And Jasper? He was hit twenty miles from camp. As far as I can tell, stays within a couple miles of camp and I haven't seen any other grounders," Bellamy tried explaining. _Why was he defending her? She could be a killer._ "Don't you have a radio to find?"

"Do you even care what will happen if we don't find it? If we can't fix it?" she hissed at him.

"You asked me to help; I helped," Bellamy responded, harshly. It was so much easier not to care.

⃝⃝⃝

Bellamy didn't want to watch them launch the missiles, his guilt was eating him up inside. Thinking about all those deaths on his hands made him feel sick. For short moments he was able to convince himself that they probably would have died anyway, but he could never hold onto the thought for long. It was a big to-do though, signaling the ark, and they expected to see him there.

"Do you think they can see them?" he ended up asking.

"I don't know," Clarke admitted. "I hope so. Can you wish on this kind of shooting star?"

Bellamy had lost her. What did stars have to do with wishes? But he knew what he would have wished for; a companion. He loved naïve girls as much as any guy, but he wanted someone who would stick by him, fight alongside him, and understand his responsibility. He needed someone mature enough to stand by him.


	6. Chapter 6

Kira saw the sky people marching through the forest. It was a small group, once again headed by Bellamy. She witnessed the large group "rescue" Bellamy's sister. They went into the forest the night of the meteor shower like an army. She had hoped that would be the end of it. Lincoln would realize his foolishness, thinking he could have one of them and they wouldn't seek out more trouble from the Trikru since they killed several members of the large group. In fact, she wished they could go back to space. She missed moping around and hunting with Fenrir and being bitter towards Lincoln. Now she spent all her time feeling like a stalker and hiding out and worrying about the wolf.

This smaller group was worse than the large one. They had Lincoln with them. He was unconscious and blindfolded, being dragged by his upper arms.

 _You should have let her die,_ Kira thought.

She calculated the kills. The one thing she ever thought through was killing; it was why she was so good at it. With her two knives and spear she could take out three from a distance. But by that time the fourth and fifth would be on top of her. She could take them with her sword, but that was only if they didn't have a gun. If they had a gun she would only be able to get four of them and then she'd be dead and Lincoln would still be captive.

Kira gave the Skikru about five minutes after they brought Lincoln inside the walls before following. She walked into camp and immediately dozens of eyes turned to her. She dropped her spear in surrender and two boys with weapons rushed towards her. One took her knives while the other bound her wrists in front of her.

"Alright, grounder," the one with the weapon to her back growled. "I don't know what games you're playing, but you sure are an idiot to come here alone."

Kira kept her head up and her mouth shut, knowing they would take her to their leader. Their leader who had captured her brother. They walked her into the metal mountain. Inside was much larger than she could have imagined and she couldn't help, but to stare in awe. One of the boys ascended a ladder and she was made to follow, the other boy climbing behind her. She climbed through a small hole and onto another level. There were several sky people surrounding her: Bellamy, another boy she didn't know, as well as Clarke and Octavia. In front of her was her brother, tied up with his arm spread out. Blood ran down the side of his face, forcing one eye to remain shut. She barely heard her captors speaking; her brother had begun struggling the moment he saw her.

"Bellamy," the one said, handing him the weapons they had confiscated. "She just walked right into camp."

Bellamy observed the woman, _so this was Charlotte's bear-lady_. She looked different than she had in the water, running away from him. She wore leather pants, boots, and gauntlets and looked ruthless, intimidating. Bellamy thought maybe he had miscalculated. Perhaps she was dangerous, perhaps she was the reason Roma was dead. Seeing her closely he noticed that on her left shoulder were small scars just like the ones on the other grounder they had captured, only the woman had many more. The scars reached down to her breast and halfway down her bicep. She still wore the bear pelt, but nothing else underneath it. Her posture was defensive, like a cornered animal waiting for an opportunity to attack. Even captive she remained primal, animalistic even, but still beautiful.

Kira shifted her gaze from Lincoln to the one they were speaking to.

Bellamy observed her for a moment before speaking. "You seem important to him," he smirked referring to the male grounder. "Who are you?"

The woman didn't respond, but refused to break eye contact, challenging him.

"A sister?" Bellamy pried and Kira nodded. A grin spread across Bellamy's face as he realized what this meant. "And let me guess: you want to trade places with your brother?"

Kira nodded again.

"No!" Lincoln growled. "No!"

"He speaks!" Bellamy laughed. Octavia was wrong, the man had understood them this whole time. "Why should I let her go?" he asked, pulling Kira closer to himself. "She came here willingly. Maybe I'll keep her in my tent."

Anger boiled inside of Kira. She was not a plaything for anyone. She spat on Bellamy, her saliva hit his cheek with perfect precision. It took Bellamy a moment to realize what had happened as he wiped the spit from his face. Without thinking about what he was doing, the back of his hand connected with Kira's face. She stumbled back, not expecting a slap to hurt so much. Her face stung, but she righted herself and stood back next to Bellamy, undaunted.

"Kira doesn't know anything. Let her go!" Lincoln begged over the scuffle. "She was banished six-years ago; she can't help you. Let her go!"

Kira growled. _Why couldn't Lincoln accept help?_

Bellamy's hand wrapped around Kira's throat. "If she's useless, then I should kill her," he hissed. He didn't mean it. In fact, he had no desire to hurt her at all. His gut feeling remained the same; that she was not a threat and he knew what family meant.

Kira held onto Bellamy's wrist as he squeezed the air from her lungs, but she stared at him the whole time. If he was going to kill her, he was going to have to look her in the eye as he did. Although he was killing her, his expression never turned malicious and Kira actually smiled to herself. She had never had to fear for her life before; no one had ever been able to beat her. But now she was at the mercy of the sky-people's alpha and she wasn't quite sure how she got there. He held her close enough that she should see his face was covered in freckles and Kira's mind began to race, distracting her from the dire situation. She had never seen anyone with so many freckles and she became curious. She wanted to be closer.

"You would die for your brother?" Bellamy asked.

Kira nodded again, unable to speak now even if she wanted to. Almost instantaneously, Bellamy let go and Kira collapsed to the ground. He couldn't kill her, not knowing that she was only trying to protect her brother. He would have done the same for Octavia.

"Alright, let's go," he growled as he pulled her back onto her feet and herded her towards the exit of the ship.

"Where are you taking her?" Clarke demanded.

Bellamy didn't answer the princess. He felt as though he didn't need to justify himself to anyone. He couldn't even justify his actions to himself. His priority was protecting his people, at all costs. Kira, the grounder had called his sister and the name stuck with Bellamy. He told himself it was because she had tried to help Charlotte, but he knew her name now and it all felt too personal; it made him uncomfortable.

Kira allowed herself to be led out of the ship and across the open field of their camp. When they approached the fence though, she began to struggle. Outside of the camp he was on his own and she could take him on without breaking a sweat.

Bellamy grabbed the back of her neck with his free hand, her weapons held in his other. "I'm not going to kill you," he hissed in her ear and she stopped actively fighting, but she still remained tense. It worried Bellamy and he considered dropping her knives for the gun he had holstered in his waistband. Neither had any reason to trust the other, so he was unsure of how to act. Outside the main gate, Bellamy unsheathed his knife and cut off her restraints. "I'm letting you go this time, but if I see you around camp again, I will kill you," he promised, tossing her weapons at her feet.

Kira cocked her head to the side, curious why he was setting her free. It was a poor strategic move, especially giving her sharp objects.

Bellamy inferred what she was asking and explained. "You might be a grounder, but you have a little brother. I would have done the same thing." It was the best answer he could come up with because the smart thing would have been to kill her and any other grounder on sight. They had proved themselves to be dangerous. What their prisoner had said nagged at the back of his mind, though. If Kira had indeed been banished, she had been alone this whole time. She wasn't a grounder spy and she wasn't conspiring against them.

Kira whistled and Fenrir appeared at her side. The rain was really pouring down now, soaking her to the bone. Bellamy was taking it worse, as it flattened his bangs to his forehead and ran down his face, it made him look like a drowned rat. Kira nodded at him, the most civil gesture she could manage since he spared her life, and took off, back into the forest. She didn't take Bellamy's threat seriously and didn't run as far as he thought she did. She still needed to make sure her brother was safe. For the moment, though, there was no way to rescue him and the hurricane made it impossible to do most anything. She took shelter in the caves to wait it out.

Once she was out of sight, Bellamy returned to the upper levels of the dropship where his sister and Clarke were waiting for him. He saw the question in their eyes, but they seemed too frightened to ask it and he didn't answer.

"Well, now that we know you speak English; let's try this again," he addressed the main tied to the wall. He needed to keep it simple. It was simple they were fighting a war it was them or the grounders, but Kira had complicated things. He knew she was strong, so why did he feel the need to protect her? Did she fall under the umbrella of one of the grounders?

Lincoln had used all of his words, though. They could inflict all the pain they wanted on him, but he didn't even know if his sister was alive. There was nothing in the world that could make him speak to these sky people.


	7. Chapter 7

_I would like to apologize in advance for any typos or continuity errors. Normally, I try to proof-read, but I might be slightly drunk at the moment. Also, I promise Bellamy and Kira will get together, but the lead up makes their relationship so much better._

The storm began to let up and Kira moved from the caves back towards the sky people's camp. Kira perched in the high branches; there was no sign of her brother or his body. She leapt from tree to tree to get the best angel to see down inside the walls. She watched the entrance of the dropship, surmising that Lincoln might be inside and hoping to spy him. She remained camped outside of the walls for a few days, irked that she felt obligated to rescue him. He was not her people; not anymore, but he was her brother and she couldn't stand idly by when he could be killed.

 _He should have stayed out of it,_ she growled to herself, but was pulled from her thoughts when she saw Bellamy and Clarke begin hissing at each other from her spot in the canopy.

Bellamy was questioning why he had ever elected himself leader in the first place. It was his job to keep his people safe so he couldn't let the grounder go, but he was not a murderer. The princess was becoming even bossier now that she was in contact with the ark. He was beginning to slip and with O not talking to him, he was becoming lost. "Why are you asking me to be your backup?" he growled at Clarke. He had only half been listening to what she said and he didn't follow why she was involving him.

"'Cause I don't feel like being around anyone I actually like," she snapped.

 _Great_. What he really needed was to be reminded that he didn't have any friends. They'd probably all be better off without him. Clarke looked at him expectantly for an answer and his mind began formulating a plan. "Let me grab my things. Meet you in ten." He could do this, leave his people in Clarke's hands, but it was dependent upon one thing; Kira taking pity on him, otherwise he would never survive on his own. They met as planned and with his pack filled with rations, Bellamy left camp with Clarke.

The first thing that tipped Kira off that something was wrong wasn't the leaders leaving, but Jasper. He sat by the main gate and although his eyes were fixed elsewhere, he had a look of absolute terror upon his face. He clutched a branch that Octavia had given him as though his life depended upon it. One by one the other sky people began wandering around in a daze. Some of them were talking to people that weren't even there.

Kira dropped out of the tree, landing in front of the gate. She took a few cautious steps forward, but no one noticed her. She spotted a pile of nuts and smirked; her suspicion had been confirmed. They were all too high to even notice the grounder. She walked with confidence to the ship. She hated being inside; it was nothing more than an oversized cage. The floor was too hard beneath her feet and the walls echoed even her breathing. Grinding her teeth, she ascended the ladder to the upper level.

Octavia supported nearly all of Lincoln's body weight as she tried to move him from the dropship. It was a preposterous sight. It shocked Kira for several reasons, but still she laughed. Octavia's head snapped up, startled by the other voice.

"So you're the only one smart enough to not eat the nuts?" Kira smiled.

The sky girl nodded. It was even more unsettling to hear Kira speak English; it didn't fit her savage image.

"Well, let's go then!" Kira urged and moved to help support Lincoln.

It was almost too easy to move him out of camp, but no one questioned the large man they had dressed in a red hoodie. Outside of the sky people's camp, Kira sent them on without her. She had gotten him out of their custody; she had done her duty as a sister.

"She's your sister?" Octavia began tentatively.

Lincoln nodded. "Twin."

"You said she was banished," the girl pried further.

"Six years ago for stealing food," Lincoln explained. "Can you do me another favor?"

"Sure," Octavia agreed. "Anything."

"Your brother- he'd be good for her. I want her to be happy," the grounder sighed. He knew Kira would never forgive him, but he needed to know that she was alright, that she wasn't alone.

Octavia scoffed. "Did you not see him beating her when she came to rescue you?"

Each step exhausted Lincoln; his whole body hurt and talking was making it harder. He made Octavia stop and leaned against a tree to keep himself upright. "Kira looks for men who can challenge her," he explained, his breathing heavy. "Men usually fight for their partners, but Kira made them fight her. Lots of guys liked her, but two proposed. One when she was fifteen and another a year later. She beat them both and by rights, took their lives."

"Why are you telling me this?" Octavia asked, shocked. The idea of it was barbaric; _by rights?!_ "So I can convince Bellamy to fight her and let her kill him?"

Lincoln shook his head. "He has already beaten her; she respects him."

Silence fell between them as Octavia considered what Lincoln had told her.

"You should get back," Lincoln interrupted the hum of the insects that had arisen around them.

"You can barely walk," Octavia protested, Kira and Bellamy immediately gone from her mind.

Lincoln bent his neck and kissed her, suddenly. "They can't know you helped me," he said as he pulled away and disappeared into the darkness.

⃝⃝⃝

Blood had never bothered Bellamy before, but seeing Jaha holding his stomach, stain on his shirt, Bellamy had to choke down vomit. "You're on the ark," he said, trying to convince himself that Jaha wasn't real.

"You shot me on the ark," the chancellor corrected. "But I've been waiting for you."

Bellamy shook his head, unable to believe this was happening. "I'm not going to ask for your forgiveness," he growled.

"It's not my forgiveness you should be seeking. It's theirs," the man motioned to the area directly behind Bellamy.

He spun around and what he assumed were 320 dead souls came staggering towards him.

"Murder. Murder." They chanted.

It took him a moment to identify the feeling as fear. Bellamy tried to run, but tripped and in an instant they were on top of him. "I'm sorry!" He cried out. "I didn't know they would kill you!"

Still, they descended on him, beating him and he didn't fight back. He deserved their wrath; he killed all 320 of them. It was a lot of blood to have on one person's hands. Suddenly they stopped, parting for Jaha. Bellamy looked up, surprised by the reprieve, and directly into the barrel of a gun that was held by the chancellor.

"Any last words?" Jaha asked. Their eyes connected and Jaha disappeared, replaced by Dax.

Bellamy knit his eyebrows together, confused. Was none of it real? Before he could respond to Dax, a spear pierced the boy's chest and he was sent flying backwards. Bellamy sat up from his position on the ground to see where the spear had come from. Leaning over him was a woman in a bear pelt. He sighed in relief; his heroine in the form of a beautiful, but weather-worn girl, had saved him.

Kira retrieved her spear, making sure the assailant was dead and then looked over, frowning down at the man. She shouldn't have been there. She jabbed him with the butt end of her spear, knocking him unconscious.

Bellamy woke to Clarke calling his name. "Are you okay? What happened?" She demanded.

He tried to remember, but it was all fuzzy. He looked over and saw the body of Dax lying next to him. "He was going to kill me," Bellamy remembered. He also remembered Jaha was going to kill him, but decided to leave that part out.

"So you decided to kill him first?" The princess frowned disapprovingly.

He rolled his eyes at her. "No," he wanted to explain, but was fumbling with the words. "Bear-lady," Bellamy thought first of Charlotte. "Grounder," he corrected himself. "Kira."

It took Clarke a moment before placing the name to the grounder who had walked into their camp. She never thought she would be grateful to one of them.

But Bellamy's eyes had never left Dax's body. "All I do is hurt people. I'm a monster."

"Hey, no," Clarke said gently. "You saved my life today. You may be a total ass half the time, but we all need you. You're the reason we've survived. If you need forgiveness, fine, I forgive you, but you have to come back and face it."

"When Jaha gets down here, he's going to kill me," Bellamy choked. "It's best for everybody, including myself, if I just leave."

"Will figure something out," Clarke assured him.

Bellamy would have scoffed if he wasn't so tired. _How could she be so sure all the time?_ "Can we figure it out later?" He wanted to remain sitting there, with his back against the tree. He could have used a hug, but he'd be damned if he showed that side of himself to the princess.

"Whenever you're ready," she sighed and leaned against the tree, their shoulders nearly touching.

Slowly, he realized the princess was right and did join her in going back to the camp after gathering the guns. When they arrived at the dropship, the people were panicking; apparently the grounder had gotten out.

"Let the grounders come!" he yelled, drawing the attention of his people. "We've been afraid of them for too long and why? Because of their spears and knives? I don't know about you, but I'm tired of being afraid." At the same time as Clarke, he brought forward the guns he had slung over his shoulder.

"These aren't toys," the princess announced. "They're weapons and until the dropship comes they will help keep us safe."

Bellamy sighed, she had to ruin everything. "If the grounders come; we will be ready to fight!" He needed to have them focused on himself. Clarke said he was important, but he needed to feel it. While they stored the weapons, he noticed Octavia standing alone, looking at the stars. He grabbed one of the gaudy orange blankets and approached her. Gently, he placed it over her shoulders. She accepted, tugging it around herself, but still didn't look at him. "I don't expect you to forgive me," he said. "But you'll have to find a way to live with me 'cause I'm sticking around."

"It's time," Clarke appeared before Octavia had a chance to respond.

The man sighed, more to himself than either of the girls, he didn't expect a response. "The grounder escaping; was that you?" he asked his sister before he walked away completely.

"I had nothing to do with it," she spoke through gritted teeth and Bellamy knew she was lying. "Thanks for the blanket."

Bellamy followed Clarke into the dropship to speak with Chancellor Jaha. Seeing the man, alive, speaking to him, was enough to petrify Bellamy, but the princess stepped up and vouched for him. It was easier than Bellamy thought it would be, selling out Shumway was enough to earn him a pardon. After Jaha signed out, Bellamy left Clarke and retreated to his tent without a word.

Alone, he was able to truly relax. As he closed his eyes, praying for sleep, his mind wandered, not to any recent events, but to the grounder woman. The grounder woman and her perky breasts. He could imagine touching her and he grew hard. Instinctively, he unzipped his jeans and grasped his cock in his hand. He began to stroke himself, thinking about Kira's lips against his, about her underneath him. He realized he had never heard her speak and imagined her calling out his name, screaming for her. He groaned, and imagining his cock inside of her, came.


	8. Chapter 8

Kira slept soundly, snuggled into her wolf friend. She had been comforted knowing that she was on good terms with the sky people's leader, but it, in fact, made her even lonelier. As night fell, uproar came from the Skikru camp and Kira spotted Finn wandering alone. She dropped out of a tree, right on top of him and pinned him to the ground.

"What are you doing?" she hissed.

"I-I-I don't know what you're talking about," he gulped. He began shaking, remembering the last time he was that close to a grounder, he had been stabbed in chest with a poisoned blade.

Kira felt him trembling and used his terror to her advantage. She bent her neck so that their faces were mere inches apart. "What are you planning?"

"A peace meeting! A peace meeting!" he cried. "Lincoln said he could get your leaders to meet with ours."

"They're not my leaders," she sneered and let him up, not bothering to tell him that Anya would never consider peace. It wasn't her place to intervene. She whistled for Fenrir who trotted up to Kira's side on command. The wolf happily licked Finn's face before following the woman in the direction opposite of where Finn was headed.

As Kira headed through the forest to her tent, she couldn't help but shiver. The night air was getting colder, earlier than she had expected it to. She was going to have to find another fur, but large game was hard to come by. Deer were mostly the only animals left and that wouldn't keep her warm when January rolled around. She shoved the thought aside, it would do her no good to worry now. Things had a way of working out; she was still alive at least. Kira snatched her bow off the ground and slung a full quiver over her back. She began to head out, but after taking two steps she went back and grabbed her spear, holstering it on her back as well. If the Trikru and Skikru were truly negotiating, there was only once place they would go.

By the time she arrived at the crossing, the sun had already risen. Kira saw the three sky people line up with their guns fixed on the bridge. She stood off to the side, just inside of Bellamy's periphery. Bellamy caught something moving on the edge of his vision and spun around. Through his scope, only several feet away, he recognized Kira. He lowered his weapon, nodding at her. It made him nervous that he had no idea how long she had been there. _Did all grounders move so silently?_ In one hand Kira clutched a bow, but it wasn't aimed at him. Kira nodded back and used his approval to take several steps towards the sky people.

"What's Octavia doing here?" Jasper asked, eyes fixed on the bridge instead of the woman.

Kira followed his gaze and watched Lincoln run towards the girl, embracing her. She shook her head, knowing that relationship could get him killed.

"I guess we know how he got away," Raven smirked towards Bellamy.

He rolled his eyes at her. There was never any question that Octavia let him escape, but he wasn't in the mood to hear it. The sound of hooves interrupted them and instinctively, Bellamy cocked his gun. Kira nocked an arrow as well, drawing back the string. While the sky people aimed at the bridge, covering Clarke, Kira looked up to cover them. Stationed in the upper branches of several trees, she was able to pick out three Trikru, although she couldn't recognize who they were.

"Trees," she said simply, warning Bellamy and the others.

Bellamy didn't realize it was Kira who had spoken at first. Her voice was softer than he assumed it would be. "Are you sure?" he grunted and peered through his scope. "I don't see anything."

"Look harder," Kira sighed. The three had let their attention be drawn from the bridge and so she lowered the aim of her bow towards Anya and the two warriors. She couldn't see Clarke's face, but from Anya's expression, negotiations didn't seem to be going anywhere.

"I see them; they're gonna shoot" Jasper declared and broke from the tree line. "Clarke, run!" He warned before open firing.

Bellamy growled. _Why couldn't anything ever go right?_

Kira released her arrow, hitting one of the warriors and knocking him from his saddle. She nocked another and aimed at the second warrior. His own bow was drawn and aimed at Octavia. Kira once again hit her target, killing him on impact, but she was too late, the man's arrow had already been released. She watched in petrified horror as Lincoln stepped in front of Octavia. The arrow struck him in the shoulder and Kira gasped. Lincoln broke off the arrow shaft and waved Octavia away, sending her after Clarke and Finn who were running from the bridge. Kira didn't realize that she had been holding her breath until she let out a sigh of relief.

Once the bridge was cleared, Jasper and Raven took off. Only Bellamy hesitated. He looked back at Kira when he realized that she was not running. "We have to go," he urged.

Kira shook her head. "You have to go," she corrected him. She needed to make sure that her brother was still alive.

Somehow Bellamy understood this and let her go without an argument. Glad to be returning to camp with all of his people, thanks to Kira.

The grounder room refused to watch Bellamy retreat. He had offered her a spot with him and she refused it because as much as she would have liked to, she couldn't turn her back on Lincoln. She waited for cover of darkness before sneaking past the sentries. As she moved by them, she realized what a dumb move it was; they would be on high alert after the shooting at the bridge.

She found Lincoln in the cave bandaging his wound by the light of a torch. It satisfied her to know that he wasn't bleeding out in the dirt. "Where's Nyko?" she asked, commenting on his isolation without even greeting him first.

"I'm a traitor," he grunted. "No one is going to help me."

"Hmm. I wonder what that's like," Kira replied, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You didn't have to come here!" he snapped. Immediately, he realized his mistake. Kira's face hardened into a snarl the way she did when her feelings were hurt. He doubted anyone in the world other than him knew that. He missed his sister. He missed how close they used to be. They had been inseparable, fighting side by side from the time they could hold a blade.

"You're right; I didn't," she said and began to leave.

"Kira! Wait!" he called after her.

She stopped outside of the cave, but didn't give him a chance to speak. "They will betray you, turn their backs on you. It's what they do. You took an arrow for a sky person. Two inches lower and it would have killed you, but do they send for their healer? No. It's already begun. Don't look to me for sympathy when you have nowhere to go." As she spoke, a bright light lit up the blackened sky. The twins looked up, mesmerized. It was too close and moving too quickly to be a star.

"Sky people," Lincoln breathed.

The ship fell at an alarming rate and crashed into the ground in a burst of flames, sending a pillar of smoke into the sky. It was like déjà vu, but this time, Kira didn't ignore it. She took off, back towards the Skikru camp, sprinting although she knew she would never make it back before dawn.


	9. Chapter 9

Kira carelessly crashed through the trees, not stopping until as she neared the camp, a wolf stood in her way. She tried to shoo Fenrir away, but he didn't budge and remained whimpering at her feet. Upon closer inspection she saw that half a dozen porcupine quills protruded from his muzzle. "Stupid wolf!" she yelled to everyone and no one all at once. "Come on," she sighed, leading the way towards the river, but still he didn't move. Kira crouched on all fours and growled at him until he obeyed his alpha.

She sat on the river bank in front of Fenrir and pulled out the first quill. The wolf yelped and ran several paces away. "Come! Here!" she ordered and he slinked back towards her. Kira was able to remove the rest of the quills and then dragged him into the river to rinse the blood from his muzzle. She grabbed the wolf's snout and held it close to her face. "You're fine," she murmured when she had finished inspecting it and without another glance continued on her way to the camp. Fenrir stayed by her without an order all the way to the wall.

Bellamy stood in the center of camp overseeing the quarantine. His eyes scanned the area outside of the wall in case the grounders would attack while they were weak. "Miller. Take over," he ordered when he thought he saw movement by the gate. He left the safety of the camp and found Kira, looking like she had been waiting for him. Her face looked tired, but her body language declared that she was ready for war. She turned and walked several paces from the wall and Bellamy followed.

"Kira. It's Kira, right?" Bellamy spoke first.

She stopped and looked at him now that they were alone. She nodded. "You're Bellamy."

He started. He had not expected her to know his name, but something in his chest wished desperately for her to say it again. "What's going on?" he asked. "They infected one of us with something and now others are getting sick. Clarke's eyes were bleeding."

Kira gulped; she hadn't expected the tree people to retaliate so quickly. "It doesn't kill. Not usually. It spreads through contact."

Bellamy nodded and moved to return to camp with the information. A hand on his forearm stopped him, though. He looked up and saw Kira holding on to him.

Kira reached out and grabbed Bellamy before he could leave. She wanted to keep him there with her although she had no idea how.

A thought occurred to Bellamy. _The grounders wouldn't use a disease that could hurt them._ "The grounders are immune to it, aren't they? It won't affect you?"

The woman nodded. It had been discovered while fighting the mountain men.

"Can you come back? Help the sick?" he asked.

She nodded again. There wasn't anything to do, but keep the sick away from the others and bring them water, but it would be better for her to do it than a vulnerable sky person. She walked into camp next to Bellamy causing people to stare. She hunched her shoulders and leaned closer to him, worried that they might try to hurt her.

Bellamy ignored his people and brought Kira to the dropship. Inside, he found Clarke looking pale and exhausted. "This is Kira. The grounders are immune to the virus, she'll help with the sick."

"Nice to meet you," the blonde replied through gritted teeth. "I'm Clarke."

Kira looked around at the kids shivering and vomiting blood. It was stifling inside and reeked of sweat and urine. She spotted Octavia hanging out on a ladder as though she was waiting to speak to Clarke or her brother. Kira tried to smile at her, but the girl didn't even notice the woman in the pelt, her eyes fixated on Clarke.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" the blonde whispered to Bellamy.

"We can trust her," he replied. "Can't make things any worse."

When he was gone, Clarke nodded at Octavia and the girl disappeared.

"Where is she going?" Kira asked. It seemed like Clarke was in charge so she was going to wait for her to give instruction. These people wouldn't want a grounder taking care of them anyway.

"To see Lincoln," she replied curtly. Seeing that Kira didn't become aggressive or defensive, her face softened. "We need water."

Kira obeyed and began distributing water to the sick.

Weak with the virus, Murphy still had strength to check Kira out. He smirked up at her as she handed him the water. "Girl like you bringing me water? I must have died," he coughed.

Kira smiled back at him, enjoying the attention although she didn't understand what was so great about exposed boobs. She left him when she heard a commotion outside of the dropship. Not officially part of the quarantine, she lingered in the entrance near Clarke. Several more people had collapsed and Octavia had returned.

"They don't use it to kill, they use it to soften the battleground," she was trying to explain.

"We already know!" Bellamy growled annoyed that she had been to see Lincoln. He motioned towards Kira to explain how he had this information.

"And they're attacking at first light!" she announced, undeterred by her brother.

That bit of information caused the kids to panic. Kira's eyes fixed on Bellamy so that she barely noticed Finn carrying Clarke inside the dropship followed by Octavia. His eyes connected with hers, but she had nothing to say; no advice to offer. His mind churned, searching for a way to stop the grounders from coming. He moved towards Raven, looking for a way to stretch their bullets.

Kira returned inside to the metal cage and watched Clarke resist Finn's orders of bedrest. She moved to the other side of the hammock and looked down at the girl. "Rest and you'll be better in day or you can exhaust yourself and die," Kira told her. "I can take care of the others."

Clarke gave in, but only because she had nodded off. Kira moved towards the water supply to fill a cup so that she could make sure the others stayed hydrated.

"I'll help," Murphy offered, clearly feeling better. He had no problem standing on two feet, but his face was still bruised and caked with blood and dirt. Kira knew he was the one that they had hanged, but she couldn't picture what he looked like with a clean face.

After hours of checking on people, Kira sat down with her back against the cool metal of the ship. She had taken off the pelt long ago when she first began sweating. It was exhausting taking care of dozens of kids. If she ever had the chance, she swore she would only have one. The grounder had no idea how much time had passed until she saw Bellamy stagger into the dropship and caught a glimpse of night behind him. She sprang to her feet to steady him.

"Not you too," she groaned, helping him into a hammock.

"Bell?" Octavia called and rushed over to them.

The man coughed and blood bubbled up, landing on the side of his mouth. _This is what dying must feel like,_ he thought. His blood was on fire and his bones ached. Kira took a piece of cloth and gently cleaned it away. He heaved again and Kira made sure he made it onto his side before the blood spewed from his mouth.

"He'll be okay," Kira told Octavia, but the girl didn't look convinced. "I promise."

Octavia nodded and went back to helping the others, leaving her big brother with the strange, topless woman.

"Don't look so worried," he tried to smile. "It won't kill me."

"But the tree people are coming and your people need their leader," Kira brushed his bangs back from his forehead. "I can fight with you, but I can't kill all of them. Maybe half."

"I can't tell if you're joking," he coughed as she went to get him water.

She lifted his head and poured the water into his mouth. "You've seen the scars on my shoulder? We use them to mark our kills in battle. I was sixteen when I was banished and I still have more than men twice my age now. Besides I wouldn't be fighting for you, I'd be fighting against them."

"You really don't like them, do you?" he spoke slowly, focusing on his breathing.

Kira shrugged. "I stole some food; barely more than my share and I was basically condemned to death. The punishment is losing a hand, but that usually ends up killing the person. And banishment? Between mountain men and reapers, no one is expected to survive on their own."

"I'm sorry," he said and rolled back onto his side.

"Don't be, just rest."

He woke again in a couple hours and Murphy went to offer him water. Bellamy shoved the kid away. When his nose began to bleed, Murphy tried again to offer a rag, but Bellamy wiped it on his sleeve rather than accepting help from Murphy. "Where's Kira?" he growled.

"The grounder?" Murphy asked realizing he hadn't learned her name. "She's upstairs. I can get her."

Bellamy shooed him away to do so and Clarke moved to speak with him. "It's nearly dawn," he told her.

"What do you want to do?" she asked.

"Get ready to move everyone into the dropship. If it doesn't go up, we pull up the doors and hopefully they think we ran," he explained his plan.

Kira found Bellamy standing at the entrance to the dropship among other sky people. The sun had risen and above the trees was a mushroom cloud of ash. "What is that?" she whispered.

"A bomb," Bellamy told her. "The grounders aren't coming today."

Kira breathed a sigh of relief, but before she could congratulate him he was back to barking orders.

"Alright, everybody! Sick get back on the ship!" he yelled and herded them back inside. "If you're feeling better and Clarke clears you, then you can leave." He was first in line for her to look at, using his leadership status to cut in front of everyone else.

"No swelling, you're good to go," Clarke told him and he grabbed Kira's hand dragging her out of the ship.

He dragged her through camp and into his tent. Kira watched silently with curiosity as he reached into his pack and pulled out a ball of fabric. "Here," he offered it to her.

Kira let the ball unfold and saw that it was a shirt. "I can't take this," she tried to return it.

"You'll freeze. You need it," he replied.

She considered it. In fact she really wanted to put it on right then. It had been three years since she had a shirt and this winter was threatening to be colder than the last. Before she could agree or refuse it, Bellamy's lips pressed against hers. She let the shirt drop and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him back. He picked her up and carried her over to his bed where he moved on top of her. He ground his hips against hers and Kira moved to remove his shirt. He began trailing kisses down her throat, stopping to suck at the soft spot between her neck and her shoulder as she trailed her fingers down his back, leaving marks of her own. His hand that had been cupping her breast moved between her thighs. She let out a small gasp and he began tugging her pants down. Kira let him undress her, kissing his shoulders and chest as he did so. Now naked, Bellamy's hand returned to Kira where his thumb rubbed her clit. She let out a small moan of satisfaction, causing Bellamy to smirk as he slipped his fingers inside of her. Kira dug her nails into Bellamy's shoulders and cried out in pleasure. Her hands ran down his chest and to his own pants which she expertly began to remove. He helped slid his pants from his ankles and then positioned himself back on top of her. As he kissed her lips, he thrust himself inside of Kira. Her back arched and he pulled out to thrust again. She bucked her hips into his as he groaned softly in her ear. He began picking up pace and Kira felt herself ready to cum. She tightened on his cock and with a moan of "Bellamy," came. Feeling her tighten around him, Bellamy couldn't hold it in any longer and pulled out, spilling his own cum on her inner thigh. He kissed her gently several times on the jaw and on the lips and then rolled to the side. He wrapped arms around her naked body, kissing her shoulder. Everything was perfect for a moment. Kira, suddenly aware of his closeness, weaseled out of his grip.

"What's wrong, you don't like being held?" he chuckled.

"No," she replied curtly, pulling on her pants.

It was not the answer Bellamy had been expecting. "Fine, I'll be the little spoon, but you don't have to go."

Kira frowned, but crawled back into bed with him, putting her arm around his abdomen as they laid on their sides. She tentatively placed her forehead on his back, not sure how it was supposed to work. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but rolled away from him the moment she felt herself drifting in and out of sleep. Bellamy rolled over as well, watching her pull the shirt he had given her over her head. It was slightly too big, hanging past her hips and Kira wiggled awkwardly trying to adjust.

"You don't have to go," he told her. "Ever."

"Yeah I do," she sighed. "I don't belong here."

"Well you sure as hell don't belong with them," he growled about the grounders as he stood to confront her.

She shook her head at him. "You don't understand how they look at me. I brought them water and wiped up their blood and they still don't want me here."

Bellamy frowned. He was in charge and if he wanted her to stay everyone else would have to deal with it.

"I'll be around," she spoke again before he could.

She ducked out of the tent and saw that the sun had already set. Most of the sky people were busy, but those that weren't glared as she walked by. She stood out less now that her torso was covered, but the bear still sat on her head and shoulders. It didn't go unnoticed that she had come from Bellamy's tent and Bellamy hadn't been seen all day. No one tried to stop her, though. They were too scared to find out what the grounder was capable of.

Octavia knocked on Bellamy's tent flap and he let her in now that he was dressed. "You can't get on my ass about Lincoln now," she smirked.

"What do you want, O?" he demanded, in no mood for her games.

"Lincoln said that you would be good for her, but I think you should leave her alone," Octavia told him.

Bellamy decided to humor his sister. "And why's that?"

"She's dangerous, Bell!" his sister replied as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "She'll sleep with anyone, but if you want to be in a mutually exclusive relationship, you have to fight for her."

"Fight Lincoln?" he scoffed. _And who said anything about a relationship?_ he asked himself although he knew damn well the thought had crossed his mind.

"No, fight her," Octavia explained and Bellamy's mind immediately thought of Kira's scarred shoulder. "And she killed her previous two suitors."

"Relax, O, you don't need to worry about me," Bellamy said to her, but his mind couldn't get past the scars. Somehow the news had made her seem more attractive and he was determined to have her. He would just need a plan.


	10. Chapter 10

Kira scoffed as the kids of the Skikru flooded the forest in their hunting groups of two and three. The wild animals would flee long before they approached with all the racket they were making. Some had guns, but most carried handmade knives, axes, or metal spears.

"A wolf!" one of the boys cried and chased after it.

"Leave it!" Bellamy barked. He assumed it was the same beast that orbited around Kira.

The young kid didn't listen and chased after it and Bellamy after him.

Bellamy crashed through branches, plowing a path through the forest as he tried to keep up. "Holden! Holden! Stay away from that wolf!" He heard the single shot ring out from Holden's gun. At first he let himself think that it would all be fine, but then he witnessed the wolf fall over.

"Did you see that?" Holden laughed victoriously.

"Nice, man! A single shot," Miller grinned back at him.

Bellamy grabbed the collar of Holden's shirt, yanking him back when he ran towards his kill. "You didn't listen," he hissed.

"But Bellamy!" Holden tried to explain himself.

Bellamy punched the kid square in the face and felt the sick crunch of breaking cartilage beneath his knuckles. "You have no idea what you just did," he said as Holden dropped to the ground.

Kira's stomach sank when she heard the gunfire. "Stupid wolf," she growled to herself, pushing through the trees. Sure enough, Fenrir laid on the ground, his chest still. For a moment she couldn't move, she couldn't believe it. She had been mentally preparing herself for the old wolf's death, but she figured one day he just wouldn't wake up. From her periphery, she saw Bellamy punch the kid that was holding a gun. The other kid had already begun to move towards their kill. Kira stepped in front of the animal, blocking the kid's path. She drew her blade to challenge him; the body was not his to take.

Miller looked from the grounder to Bellamy to Holden who writhed on the ground, holding his face, blood from his nose spurting between his fingers.

"Holden killed it, it's ours!" Miller plead with his leader.

Bellamy shook his head. "I told you to leave the wolf. It's hers."

Miller growled and lowered his weapon to help Holden. He pulled the boy's hands away from his face to see the damaged that had been down. Kira sheathed her own and began tying the wolf's paws together so that she could carry him more easily. Bellamy paid no attention to Holden's whimpering; he didn't like being disobeyed. Instead, he knelt next to Kira.

"I'm sorry about your friend," he said. "Are you taking him back to bury him?"

She shook her head. "Waste not," she replied and slid her arms underneath the body to lift it. It. Body. She could no longer think of the wolf as Fenrir, as her companion or her sadness would overwhelm her. No, this beast was a body of game: fur, meat, bone, and sinew.

Bellamy stopped her when he saw the way she spoke through tight lips. It was an expression he often wore himself when he could not afford to face his own sadness. "Let me," he offered.

Kira withdrew, letting him lift the body. It was heavier than Bellamy expected, but he didn't let his struggle show. He walked in silence behind Kira as she weaved knowingly into the heart of the forest, towards the caves. He wanted to do something else for her. No one had pets on the ark, but it hurt every time he lost one of the kids. It made him miserable to think he couldn't protect someone he was responsible for. Bellamy didn't bring this up, though, figuring that if she wanted something from him, she would have no problem telling him.

He almost missed her shelter. It was big enough, comparable to his tent, just camouflaged well against the rock face. His mind drifted, wondering how many times he had passed by here and never noticed. He carried the wolf inside of the lean-to structure and gently set it down in the dirt.

"Thank you," she whispered so quietly Bellamy nearly missed it.

He moved forward to hug her, surely contact was not unwarranted since they had hooked up only a couple days ago. Yet Kira had made no move to even show familiarity towards him. Bellamy second guessed himself and left her alone in the tent.

Kira didn't mind that he left, it was probably better so that she didn't take her anger out on him, but she couldn't understand his awkwardness. They had sex. He shouldn't have been looking for permission to touch her now; if he wanted to embrace her then he should just wrap his fucking arms around her. She knelt down beside the wolf and pressed her knife into its skin. She had to do this now and she had to keep busy. Otherwise her thoughts might wander and she might find herself thinking about how alone she was or that she would never see her best friend again or how she had been unable to care for someone that needed her again. No, it was more practical to skin the beast for its pelt so she could be warm with the coldest month fast approaching.

Bellamy mentally kicked himself when he walked back towards camp. Not only had he let Kira's wolf get killed, he hadn't shown her any strength or affection. On top of it all, the hunters had already returned to camp so he was left alone in the dark. He considered going back, but that sure as hell wouldn't be a show of strength.

Monty, Octavia, and Raven stormed through the gate, each holding a gun. They moved together, but not in any professional formation. They spotted Bellamy before he saw them. He was carefully picking his way over protruding roots, his gun still slung on his back.

"Bellamy!" Octavia called.

He looked up and saw his sister and her friends. "What's going on?" he asked, taking note of their weapons.

"Finn and Clarke are missing," Monty explained. "We're going after them."

Without hesitation, Bellamy spun his weapon around and joined into the formation. "When did you last see them?" he asked.

"Don't know," Monty admitted. "They were with the hunting party and never came back. Neither did you."

"One of the kids killed Kira's pet wolf. I had to make sure she didn't kill him," Bellamy only half-lied. "We need to split up, cover more ground."

The four began spreading out, splitting up guys and girls. Monty wasn't paying much attention to Bellamy, though, and before he knew it they were completely separated. Bellamy looked around, but the kid was nowhere to be seen.

"There's someone in the bushes," came through from one of the girl's walkie-talkies. Bellamy heard it faintly from Monty's radio not too far away.

He glanced over his shoulder to make sure Octavia was still in view. Relieved, he began moving towards them.

"Bushes," Raven mouthed to him and tilted her head to point.

They approached the bushes, weapons hot. Bellamy moved first to clear the brush **.** Octavia gasped. It was Myles. The body looked as though he had been dead all day, but it was hard to tell from the damage that had been done by the animals.

Kira dropped down from a tree, landing behind Bellamy. He spun around as he heard the crunching of leaves. The girls copied his actions. Octavia wasn't sure if she should be relieved or not. She knew exactly how dangerous Kira was, but she also knew that she didn't intend them harm. Raven, on the other hand, seemed less trusting of the savage. She didn't lower her weapon even as Bellamy spoke.

"Don't do that," he growled. "I could have shot you."

"But you won't because you didn't," she smirked. "You hesitated and if I was anyone else you'd be dead."

"So you're saying I should have shot you?" he asked, confused.

Kira glared at him. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

"If that's what you want," Raven sneered as she adjusted her grip on the weapon, making sure Kira saw that they all carried guns.

"Watch it," Kira warned, taking a step closer as she sized up her opponent. "I have no qualms about killing you."

"Kira!" Bellamy barked a warning of his own.

She turned back to face him; all malice gone from her expression. "Your boy is gone; taken."

"What? What are you talking about?" Octavia demanded, her voice rising in panic.

Kira produced the makeshift walkie-talkie, dangling it from the antenna between her two fingers. "I mean he's gone. The Trikru took him. This was on the ground not a dozen feet away."

Raven finally lowered her weapon to grab the device and examine it as though it had some clue about what had happened to Monty. "Well, where is he?" she asked.

Kira shrugged. "No idea. Now that they know you're a threat; they could have taken him a number of places all of which are at least half a day's hike. Besides, it's too dark." She pointed up at the sky, indicating a lack of moon. "No one could find tracks tonight. Go home."

Bellamy nodded. It was more important to protect the kids at camp. The army could be coming at any moment and they had limited gunpowder left. They couldn't waste it wandering around and looking for a kid who could already be dead. "She's right. Let's go." He ushered Octavia and Raven to go ahead of him so he could watch their backs.

"Fine. But we're coming back in the morning," Raven announced.

Bellamy ignored her comment. _No, they won't._ he thought. _Not until the whole camp was fortified._ "Be careful," he told Kira as he walked past her, gently touching her arm.

"You too," she returned the sentiment and then shooed him off. She wanted to keep them all in that camp. Their only chance of survival was if they could survive a siege.


	11. Chapter 11

The sun woke Kira up, disorienting her because she had expected a wet nose. She moved slowly, with no real motivation as she picked up the last of the deer and sat crossed-legged to eat it. She munched slowly at the gamey meat, dreading the idea of going hunting. She tugged the cotton tshirt over her head and put her new pelt over her shoulders. The bear laid where her bed was. Despite its filthiness, Kira was incapable of getting rid of anything. She didn't even know how to get rid of it. Loading up with weapons, she returned to where she had found the radio last night and searched for any kind of tracks, but in typical Trikru fashion, any that had been made had also been covered up. Kira was torn between knowing that they weren't her problem and that she shouldn't let them be tortured and killed if she could do something about it.

As the day wore on, she picked up the tracks of an elk. The shallow prints and increasing distance between them told Kira the elk had begun running, but there were no tracks to tell from what. She picked up her own pace although she doubted she would ever catch it.

The sun sank behind one of the mountains and the shadow it cast made Kira shiver. She looked up to see just how much daylight she had left when she spotted the signal fire in the oncoming darkness. She stopped, standing completely still to listen. There was no shouting, grunting, screams, or anything else to indicate the presence of reapers. She ran towards the fire instead of back towards home.

From a distance she saw three figures disappear into the tunnels. Illuminated by a torch, she easily recognized her brother's figure and Clarke's blonde hair. Outside the cave were two more figures Kira recognized: Anya and Tristan. The elk gone from her mind, Kira growled and began to run. She raced through the night, not stopping even when her legs grew tired.

The sky people didn't even see her. They were too busy staring at their ship. Kira walked through the crowd and they all parted for her without thought.

"What the hell is going on?" she asked when she stopped next to Octavia.

"Murphy has Bellamy hostage," Octavia replied with a grimace. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to let him know I saw your friends," Kira explained. "If they're still alive they should be back soon. I'd say there's a 60/40 chance they made it through the tunnels."

Before Octavia could respond, the ship door began to lower. "Raven! You did it!" a boy called out.

"Let's go," Jasper ordered, leading a group into the ship, guns at the ready.

Kira let them all walk by her. She waited for them to emerged, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she hopped from one foot to the other. She wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings when an explosion startled her. She leapt back and grabbed her weapon, but when nothing seemed to follow she let herself relax.

Bellamy spotted Kira right away as he exited the dropship. She looked almost tame, waiting for him, shirt and all. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I wanted to let you know you're friends are alive," she sighed. She was a bit annoyed that his sister hadn't relayed her message, but she was more focused on the new wounds upon Bellamy's neck and face. Taking his chin in her hand, she forced his face to the side so she could inspect the injuries. "You sky people are soft; you don't know how to fight."

Bellamy grimaced. "He had a gun. I didn't have much choice in the matter," he explained.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Were you within twenty one feet?" she asked and he nodded. "Then you should have been able to kill him."

"So teach me to fight, then?" he challenged.

Kira considered it for a moment and then kicked Bellamy's feet out from under him. He fell onto his back and his head hit the ground.

"The fuck?" he sat up and groaned, holding the back of his head. "I didn't mean now! I wasn't ready!"

Kira cocked her head to the side to study him. "You think your enemies will wait until you're ready?" she asked with sincerity. "Not all warriors have honor. Pray you never meet Tristan, then. He'll stab you in the back while you're fighting someone else."

Bellamy understood her point and stood up, brushing the dirt from his clothes. "But right now I need to find Clarke and Finn."

"I told you: they'll be here soon. Unless the reapers intercepted them," she shrugged casually.

Bellamy wanted to punch her for being so nonchalant. Those were his friends, his people and she couldn't give a shit about their lives. But before he could express his frustration, Clarke, Finn, and Monty all came running into the center of camp.

"What happened?" Clarke panted. "We heard an explosion."

Kira smirked at Bellamy. "Told you so. I'll see you tomorrow." She disappeared into the crowd that was forming around Clarke and the others. She wove in between the kids until she was outside of the gates.

⃝⃝⃝

Bellamy sauntered out of the gates, ax strapped to his thigh like always. He was nervous. He'd need a gun to his head to admit it, but he was nervous. He wasn't even sure if he could find Kira again; he had only been to her home that once with the wolf.

Kira dropped from her perch in the tree and landed almost silently in front of Bellamy. This time she hesitated, admiring how cute he looked with the way his bangs curled at the ends, just above his eyes. It was just for a second, though, then she threw a mean right hook. The one second was enough for Bellamy, though. He threw up an arm just in time to block the punch. Bellamy couldn't believe it. He blocked her, but while he was smiling in victory, she struck with her other fist

Bellamy grunted and flexed his jaw. He knew he was supposed to be fighting her, focusing on weak points and what not, but his eyes traveled from her eyes to her lips. She bit her bottom lip while she concentrated and that was the end of Bellamy's fighting.

"You let yourself get distracted," Kira reprimanded Bellamy after knocking him down and she straddled his hips.

"It was worth it," he smirked up at her. He moved one of his hands and placed it on the back of her head, pulling her down so that he could kiss her.

Kira kissed back, letting him roll on top of her as he trailed kisses down her neck and lifted her shirt over her head. As he stripped off her clothes, his kisses moved down her torso, between her breasts until he reached her hips. Bellamy didn't ask permission. He couldn't think of anything he wanted more than her; to have her, to taste her. His lips moved to her inner thigh where he bit down gently and sucked on her skin. Kira let out a slight moan. She arched her back, wanted him to stop teasing and fuck her. Bellamy continued to kiss her body, finally reaching that spot between her hips. Kira let out a gasp of pleasure and Bellamy took that as encouragement. He moved a hand towards her front, using his thumb to rub her clit as he delved into her. Kira cried out and knotted her hands into his hair, twisting the black strands between her fingers. She had never known such pleasure and felt it building inside of her.

"Bellamy!" she eventually cried as her back arched, hips lifting off the ground.

With one last lick, Bellamy moved to look at her, grinning. Kira smiled back at him and kissed him on the lips, not minding that he tasted like cum.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Kira breathed.

"None of your boyfriends have ever done that with you?" Bellamy asked, surprised.

Kira bit her lip and shook her head, giggling. "They weren't really boyfriends…"

Bellamy nodded. "Right. O told me about fighting for your affection," he admitted, taking the opportunity to hand Kira her shirt, hoping she didn't see through him as she tugged it over her head.

"If a guy wants me to follow him, be loyal to only him, I need to make sure he deserves me," Kira shrugged off his judgmental tone.

Bellamy couldn't help but to chuckle. "You deserve a guy who will go down on you." He kissed her gently.

"You probably have to get back to your camp," Kira commented, looking up at the position of the sun. "Tomorrow. No distractions," she told him sternly, but smiled as she said it.

He smirked before he left and for the first time since he met her, didn't question the feelings he had for Kira.


	12. Chapter 12

Kira easily put Bellamy on his back. He landed in the dirt with a thud, kicking up the dust around them. She straddled his hips and felt his hardness press into her. "Do you want me Bellamy Blake?" she purred.

"And if I did?" he smirked, running his hands up her thighs.

Kira grinned and bent down, pressing her lips to his. She bit down on his bottom lip and he grunted in pleasure as he reached up to cup her breast. Kira rocked her hips against his as she moaned her desire. In one swift motion, Bellamy flipped them over, never breaking the kiss, and landing so that he was on top of the girl. He ground his hips into her as his tongue explored her mouth. He ran one of his hands down her side and then back up her thigh, stopping at her waistband where he tucked a finger inside, sliding it along to the front of her abdomen. Kira trailed her kisses down his neck, encouraging him as she lost sight of her surroundings, losing herself in her desire for him.

Octavia came running out of the camp, shouting Bellamy's name. She skidded to a stop at the sight of her brother on top of another girl.

The grounder heard Bellamy's name coming from another and forced herself on top of the boy as she drew a knife. Kira pointed it at the sound of the interloper, but immediately sheathed it when she recognized Bellamy's sister and the girl who had stolen Lincoln's affections. Bellamy propped himself up on his elbows to see what was going on.

"Now is really not a good time," he growled at his little sister.

"It's important," Octavia plead.

Bellamy looked back at Kira and sighed. The girl climbed off of him and helped him up. Before she could walk away, Bellamy put an arm in front of her. The two stood side by side, but facing opposite directions. "We'll finish this later," he whispered in Kira's ear and placed a kiss on her temple.

The gentleness of the gesture startled Kira. "Don't get yourself killed," she hardened herself against him, trying not to think of the wetness between her legs. But after a moment, she ran after him. Curiosity won out: _What could have been so urgent?_

"Listen, we gotta leave," Finn was yelling at the group desperately. "There's an army of grounders unlike anything we've ever seen heading towards us right now. We need to pack what we can and run!"

Kira pushed through the sky people to confront the boy. "Wait. How many? More than one clan?" She had let herself get distracted and now she didn't know what Trikru was up to. _How could he know about their plans?_ she wondered.

"Clans? What are you talking about?" Clarke asked, her voice rising an octave. Kira couldn't tell if it was urgency or panic that changed her inflection.

"Like hell we do," Bellamy growled shutting them all up. "We knew what was coming."

"Not this," Kira tried to explain. "You've only seen Trikru. There are eleven more clans that exist. No two clans have fought together before. They hate each other too much…"

Bellamy shook his head, still trying to protest. "Where would we even go? Where would be safer than behind these walls?" His question was directed at the group, speaking how he always did to bolster their spirits, to get them to follow him.

"There's an ocean to the east," Octavia spoke up. "Lincoln said he had a friend there; a girl called Luna. She'll help."

"We'll vote on," Clarke declared.

Bellamy sneered at the princess. He thought they had begun to see eye to eye about protecting this group. "Fine!" he barked. "All in favor of running?"

Clarke and Finn raised their hands. Slowly, a couple more hands went up, and then a few more. Soon, nearly the whole group held a hand above their heads. Bellamy looked around him and tried not to let his anger and hurt show. He felt like they had betrayed him, choosing the princess over him.

"Alright," Clarke took charge. "Get your packs and whatever supplies you can carry. We need to leave as soon as possible."

The kids dispersed, leaving Bellamy and Kira standing alone in the center of camp. "Is there anything you need to get to take with you?" he sighed.

"I'm not leaving," Kira scoffed.

Bellamy's forehead creased and he knit his eyebrows together. "Why not?"

"They're not coming to kill me! I'm not going to leave my home because Lincoln says there might be someone somewhere who may not want to kill everyone she sees," Kira tried explaining.

"I want you to come with us," Bellamy tried another approach.

"Then you're going to have to drag me behind you," Kira issued a challenge.

Bellamy nodded. "If I have to."

He lunged at Kira, but she was quick and ducked under Bellamy's arm and her fist collided with his side. He grunted in pain and struck out at her. Kids were circling around them and Bellamy noticed some of the guard he had created was on the front lines.

"Stay back," he ordered them.

His fist hit her jaw with a force that should have made anyone stumble. Kira barely reacted though and went for his feet to knock him down, but he avoided the maneuver. She smiled; he had been listening to her lessons from the past couple of days. He struck out again, this time his fist hit her abdomen. She coughed, doubled over, but quickly regained her footing and tackled the man. He landed on his back, leaves and twigs crunching beneath their weight. Kira quickly moved on top of him stopping his hands from connecting with her body. But as she held him, she could not strike him. Their strength hit their peaks and they disconnected. Kira was the first to recover with her fist slamming into Bellamy's face. She struck him twice each punch making that sickening sound of skin against skin. Blood covered Kira's knuckles and he didn't seem to be fighting back anymore.

"That's all you've got?" she cried, conflicted over her victory. "Fight back!" she begged. She couldn't be in a monogamous relationship with a man that couldn't protect her. She needed someone who could put up with her shit. There was no one else like Bellamy.

Blood clouded his vision and all he could think about was just lying there. But with the last of his energy Bellamy raised his arms and placed a hand on either side of her head, bringing her closer to him. He raised up his own head, smashing his forehead into hers. It injured Kira enough that he was able to flip her under him and pin her wrists to the ground. Kira looked up at him, eyes wide with surprise. She struggled to get loose, but he had his whole body weight on top of her and she was trapped.

"You're mine," he breathed and leaned down to gently kiss her. "And you're coming with us."

Kira freed her hands as he relaxed and studied his face. "I'm sorry," she said, trying to wipe some of the blood away. Her head was pounding, but in truth she couldn't have been happier. She has somewhere she belonged now- with Bellamy and he belonged to her.

"I'm fine," he lied and helped Kira to stand up.

The whole camp had gathered watching their leader and the grounder fight. None of them seemed to know what was going on until Clarke spoke up.

"Great, now that you two have finished your savage mating ritual, can we go?" Clarke hissed.

Blushed crept into Kira's cheeks and she moved so that she stood partially behind Bellamy and his body shielded her from Clarke.

"She's right," Bellamy barked at the group. "Close your jaws and move out. I want guns in the front and in the back to cover the group. Everyone- weapon's hot."

Kira adored him when he was shouting orders like a general. She waited for him while he grabbed his pack. Clarke lingered as well in uncomfortable silence. Kira stared at Clarke, challenging the girl to look at her, but Clarke looked everywhere but at the grounder.

Bellamy returned with his pack and a gun slung over his shoulder. He gently placed a hand on the back of Kira's neck, guiding her out of the camp.

"You did good here," Clarke walked along side of the them.

"18 dead," Bellamy huffed.

"82 alive," Clarke pointed out.

Bellamy nodded, accepting her point.

Kira moved out from Bellamy's grasp as they entered the forest. "I should be in front," she explained. "I know where I'm going." She moved through the crowd of sky kids to where Octavia stood in the front.

"You know," she looked over at Kira and sighed. "Lincoln just said ocean and east. That's pretty vague."

"Don't worry, there's only one Luna. I know where to go," Kira assured her. She drew her knife and began moving strategically through the trees. Her eyes scanned the forest and the canopy every few feet, but if the tree people were there, they were camouflaged so well that even she couldn't spot them.

Octavia mimicked Kira's actions teaching herself to move like a grounder. She was concerned with her own footing that she almost didn't notice Kira stopping only a couple paces instead.

"What is it?" One of the kids asked. "Why are we stopping?"

Jasper scanned the area, peering through the scope of his gun. "I don't see anything," he declared.

Kira shushed him. She could have sworn she saw the branches ahead of them move. The kids waited obediently for the grounder to assess the situation. "Scouts," she hissed just as a metal disk cut through the air **.** It sped past her ear and the sharpened edge found its target. Kira watched in surprise as the red-headed kid fell backwards. She knew better than to waste time on the dead. "Retreat!" she called out. 

"Grounders!" Jasper shouted.

Screams erupted from those who witnessed the boy's death, but it didn't slow their retreat back to camp. Kira covered as best as she could with her bow and was the last one back through the gates.

Bellamy nearly dragged her across the border by the collar of her shirt. "Close the gates!" he ordered. He hadn't worried about her leading the group until it made her the last to retreat.

"If it's just one scout we could fight our way out!" Octavia ran up to her brother and Kira took the opportunity to wiggle free. "It's what Lincoln would do."

"We're done doing what that grounder would do," Bellamy growled. "We did what he wanted and now Drew is dead. Do you want to be next?" He should never have let them try to leave.

"That grounder," Finn sneered, interrupting. "Saved our lives. I agree with Octavia. For all we know, there's one scout out there."

Kira scoffed. _Where did that come from? Hadn't Lincoln stabbed the boy?_ "They travel in pairs," she corrected him as though it were obvious.

Octavia didn't seem to think the information was important. If Bellamy wasn't going to listen to her, she would appear to the other leader. "Clarke, we can still do this."

"What's it gonna be?" Bellamy asked. If they weren't all risking their lives he would have been feeling smug. "Run and get picked off out in the open or stand and fight back?"

Clarke considered it. Both options equally sucked. She looked over the faces of the small group surrounding her. All but Kira waited anxiously for her answer. The grounder woman was standing defensively, en garde, as though the two scouts were a threat even on the inside of the walls. The rest of the kids stood similarly, although they looked less like warriors and more like scared delinquents who stole some guns. "Scouts," she emphasized the s. "Looks like you've got your fight," she told Bellamy.

He felt relieved, truly believing they had a better chance of survival at their own camp. "Okay then!" he barked. "This is what we've been preparing for. Kill them before they kill us. Gunners to your posts. Use the tunnels to get in and out. From now on, the gate stays shut."

The kids moved immediately and without question. Octavia picked up her own weapon and followed.

"Woah," Bellamy held out an arm to stop her. There was no way he was going to risk having her on the front lines. "You're not a gunner."

"No, I'm not," Octavia told him, holding up her sword. "I'm a grounder."

Bellamy sighed. She wasn't a grounder; Kira was a grounder. _Oh, God, Kira._ "You good?" He asked her. "I never meant for you to fight your own people."

"They're not my people," she told him. After making sure her bow was secured on her back along with her quiver she drew her own blade. "Don't worry. I'll watch her back."

Kira squatted in the foxhole along with Octavia and three boys, focusing on the forest in front of them. She could feel how nervous the boys were, but luckily Bellamy's voice came in over the radio, diffusing some of the tension.

"All foxholes, listen up: Eyes and ears open. Inflict casualties. As many as possible. You can hold them off long enough to make them turn back. That's the plan."

"You got that, guys?" Kira asked. "You can do this."

"Yeah, yeah," one of them breathed and the atmosphere of the foxhole relaxed.

When it was apparent that the grounders weren't actually about to attack, Kira wormed her way out of the foxhole, back to the clearing of the camp. She couldn't do any damage long range anyway, not when there was too little space to shoot a bow. But inside the walls was worse. There was the small crew working on firing the rockets, but there was nothing else to be done and it was making Kira twitchy.

"Calm down," Bellamy placed a hand on her arm. "You're making the others nervous."

"Sorry. I don't like the anticipation," she said, but still kept readjusting the grip on her weapon.

"They're here!" a kid yelled.

Kira was about to ask if they were sure; it was hard to see in the dark, but then she realized it was a foolish question. Of course they would attack at night.

Bellamy moved to the wall immediately; he was ready. He looked at the kids standing by him. "Where's Octavia?" he asked Nate.

"She left five minutes ago," he answered. "Didn't say where to. She thinks she's a damn Samurai."

Bellamy cursed at himself. Kira said she would have his sister's back, but then she had been with him for the past hour.

"On it," Kira declared and went after Octavia before Bellamy could blame her for anything that happened. She chased after the girl and so she was there when the first wave of grounders attacked. As Kira cut and hacked her way through people she used to know, she prayed the sky people's plan would work. If it didn't they would all die because facing it now, she realized this fight was impossible. An arrow whizzed past her ear and she cursed at the rapid decline of their fortunes. Another arrow and Octavia fell as she cried out in pain. The arrow shaft stuck out of her upper thigh, but didn't go all the way through. Kira rushed towards her, determined to protect Octavia and get her to safety.

Several things happened at once, overloading Kira's senses. Kira carried Octavia deeper into the woods, keeping Octavia's arm over her shoulders. As they hobbled along the sky exploded. Kira looked up ready to defend against whatever it was.

"It's the ark," Octavia said quietly, looking at the falling metal.

Before Kira could process the information, there were new screams, this time coming from the grounders. She knew that could only mean one thing; reapers.

Lincoln appeared beside them, panting. His eyes went right to Octavia's leg and he immediately grabbed her. "I can get her out of here. Keep her safe," he told Kira.

Kira nodded. Bellamy would be angry, but at least his sister would be alive. "Be careful."

"Wait!" Octavia called to Kira. "Tell Bellamy-"

"I will," Kira said. She would let Bellamy know that his sister loved him; they would see each other again. "Now, go." She returned to the dropship where the battle raged on. Kids were running inside the ship and she wondered if she could make it inside; if she would be welcome. Kira spotted Clarke and recognized the worried expression on her face. Kira followed Clarke's gaze and found Bellamy attempting to fight Tristan. Tristan who had landed only one punch and Bellamy was already starting to stumble. Kira charged. Effortlessly, Tristan struck Bellamy again and again. With the last hit, Bellamy fell backwards. Tristan drew a knife and Kira stepped between them using her own blade to disarm Tristan.

"Traitor!" he spat at her.

"Fuck you," she returned and kicked him in the abdomen, sending him reeling backwards.

Bellamy recovered to his feet. Before he saw Kira trading blows with Tristan, he saw Finn fighting beside him and Clarke across the field at the dropship. By the look in her eyes he knew it was time to go unless they wanted to be burned alive. "Kira! Finn!" he yelled.

Kira looked away from her fight and saw the grounders pouring into the camp. Clarke had disappeared into the dropship and Kira understood. She swung at Tristan again. While he recovered, she grabbed Bellamy's hand and ran. Finn followed and they sprinted through the trees. None of them knew how large the blast radius was so they kept going even when they thought their legs would give out. There was a roar from behind them and thick, black smoke engulfed the forest. Bellamy pushed Kira to the ground and covered her with his own body. She shut her eyes and covered her face. She could feel the pressure of Bellamy on top of her and the smoke made it near impossible to breathe. She remained still, waiting for death, but it never came.


	13. Chapter 13

What felt like ages was probably only minutes, but when Kira finally felt Bellamy stand, she was disoriented about time and place. The smoke had cleared, but she couldn't stop herself from coughing several times. She was glad to see Bellamy was alright, but with no notion of the results of the battle, she couldn't let her guard down just yet.

"Where's the other one?" she asked.

Bellamy looked around, panicked. He was just there, running with them. "Finn!" he called.

Kira elbowed him in the gut. "You don't know if there are enemy survivors nearby."

He took her point and didn't call out again. They would have to try and track him. Kira, obviously, was the one who went first, head bent to the ground as she looked for some sign of Finn.

"This way," she declared and took off. Kira didn't know who she was tracking, but didn't admit it to Bellamy. There were two sets of tracks both of which belonged to sky people. She hoped some of the footprints belonged to Finn, but at least nothing pointed towards Tristian. Bellamy followed Kira without question. She ran quickly and he struggled to keep up; his weapons reduced to only a spear. Kira spotted the kids before Bellamy did. They were crouched down, attempting to hide behind a fallen tree. Kira altered her course and ran toward them, bringing Bellamy along with her. Even as they approached he didn't notice them until the girl said his name.

"Get back down," Bellamy ordered instinctively and scanned the area. "We were tracking them?" he asked Kira.

Kira nodded. "I didn't see any Trikru tracks."

"Have you seen Finn?" Bellamy asked Monroe.

"Finn's alive?" they asked, confirming that they hadn't seen him in some time.

"He was. We got separated," Bellamy explained.

Voices coming from over the ridge interrupted them. Kira moved forward first and Bellamy joined her while the two kids stayed back. Tristian was riding a horse, something Kira hadn't seen coming, and he had two prisoners. Two boys who were bound with ropes followed the horse. Kira recognized one of these as Finn, the boy they were looking for. The four kept down and out of sight while they watched the boy stumble and fall.

"Get up!" Tristian ordered.

"I can't," he whimpered.

Finn tried to help the kid stand. "He can't keep up," he told their captor.

Tristian dismounted from the horse. "I said get on your feet," he growled and dragged the boy away from Finn. He drew his sword and slit the kid's throat despite protesting screams from Finn. "That's one; I lost three hundred." Tristian advanced on Finn, but instead of killing him, offered the boy water. "Drink. You're lucky. I need to keep one of you alive to talk to the commander."

Kira's stomach sank. If Tristian reached the commander, they would never get Finn back. They would have to act soon, but suddenly Tristian was riding again and Finn was stumbling along behind him. She moved without thinking of the others with a desperate need to catch up. "I'm going to kill him," Kira declared as they closed in.

"Wait, we need a plan," Bellamy said.

"I'm going to kill Tristian," Kira repeated. That was her plan.

Bellamy sighed. "Fine. When she attacks, I'll back her up. You two go for Finn. On three."

Before he could finish his count. Kira ran out of the trees. "Tristian!" she yelled.

He turned his horse around and smirked. He spurred the horse on with the intent to run Kira down, dragging Finn behind him. Bellamy threw his spear and missed. Kira was more successful with her attack. She sidestepped at the last moment and ran her blade through the horse's side. Gutted, the horse collapsed and Tristian was thrown from his seat.

"Little, Kira," he growled as he advanced on her. "You think you and your pet can beat me?"

She raised her sword to meet his on the downswing. Bellamy watched helplessly as the two exchanged blows. He wanted to do more, but there was no room for him in the fight. He moved to Finn and began removing his restraints. There was no time to wonder what had happened to the others. Bellamy freed Finn just in time to see Kira plunge her blade through Tristian's chest. Kira stood over the body and tried to catch her breath. It was satisfying to kill a jerk like him, but it begged the question: who else had survived the fire?

Bellamy was the first to see Kane approaching. _Of course the bastard survived the crash._ He had a gun which was raised defensively. The kids were behind him.

"On your knees!" Kane commanded.

Kira looked up and saw the weapon pointed at her. She assessed her surroundings. By the time she pulled her sword free the man would likely have fired. Her best bet would have been to tackle him; get inside of his range.

"No!" Bellamy yelled. "She's with us!"

More sky soldiers emerged from the trees; all armed. Kira dropped to her knees and allowed her hands to be bound behind her back. The man who had given the orders helped to lifter her back to her feet and then addressed a protesting Bellamy. "Everything's going to be alright. We're here now."

It took all of his willpower not to roll his eyes, but apparently Finn didn't have quite the same amount of self-control. The boy scoffed which earned him a glare of Kane. The guards swept the area and then whistled. Civilians appeared, headed by Clarke's mom, Abby.

Bellamy placed himself next to Kira, declaring his allegiance. "I won't let them hurt you. This isn't right."

"They're right," Kira told him. "They're safer with me tied up."

"Don't say that," he hissed. "We have to work with them."

"Bellamy!" Abby ran up to him. She eyed Kira cautiously, but spoke anyway. "Where's Clarke? Is she alright?"

"She was when we left," Finn answered for him. "We can take you to her."

Kane split the group in half so that he could bring armed guards to the dropship. He kept the grounder prisoner with his group and left Finn and Bellamy lead the way. Kira was flanked on all sides by men with guards and it made her twitchy. The ropes burned her wrists and she felt defenseless, walking, but unable to use her arms. The boy wasn't worth this trouble. If she could get free, she would leave Bellamy behind.

"You said the girl was with you," Kane said to Bellamy. "She's a friend?"

"Yes. She fought with us against the other grounders; saved me and Finn," Bellamy answered.

"Did you see the damage she did to that man back there? That was brutal. Savage. We can't just let someone like that roam free," he explained.

"She's not a threat!" Bellamy sneered.

They had made it to the clearing of the dropship. Bodies were scattered everywhere; most of which were charred to badly you couldn't tell if they were grounders or one of their own. It was unsettlingly quiet; too quiet for those who had made it into the dropship to still be there. Kira swallowed hard, hoping it would calm her nerves. There were fresh prints that no one else seemed to notice; heavy boot prints on top of the charred soil.

"Bellamy," she said, but he didn't hear her. "Mountain men."

No one paid attention to the grounder. Not even Finn or Bellamy acknowledged that she had spoken. Kane gave orders to the guards. Four were left with the kids from the dropship and the prisoner while the others moved on the ship. "Stay here" was Kane's order to Bellamy. He wanted to hit the man. He had led these kids, protected them, for months and just because Kane was in charge in space he gets to take over here?

 _This is bullshit. He doesn't know the people or the area_ , Bellamy thought. He hated feeling powerless. In minutes Kane had taken away everything he had built.

"Bellamy," Kira tried again. "The mountain men were here."

"The fuck are the mountain men?" he snapped.

Before Kira could answer voices echoed from the dropship. "We need a stretcher."

Bellamy's stomach sank. "Sorry," he whispered to Kira and he rushed towards the sound.

"Woah," the guards stopped him and Finn from getting close.

 _Bullshit_. Bellamy stood down and looked towards Finn. The two made eye contact and Bellamy nodded. Without a words they sprinted for the foxhole. Two of the guards chased them, but soon they were in the clearing.

Kira was left with only two armed men on her and she was confident she could escape. It was a question of where would she go. With at least a hundred more people from the sky, livable land was becoming scarce. Looking long-term, her best bet would be to convince the sky people to trust her and release her so she could live among them. She just needed to learn patience.

Eventually they all returned to Kira and her two guards. There were two kids on stretchers, but no survivors other survivors. Bellamy had his hands tied behind his back and was being led by a guard. He saw Kira's glare and averted his eyes, ashamed.

"What did you do?" she growled.

"Jumped Murphy," he mumbled.

Kira kicked out Bellamy's knee. He fell to the ground with a grunt, but didn't try to retaliate. She had every right to be pissed at him. He had gotten himself arrested and in doing so demolished any chance he had of getting her out of this mess. The guard holding onto Kira's elbow yanked her away. She braced herself, expecting a blow, but none came. They just kept marching.


	14. Chapter 14

The Skikru's camp was a monstrous tower of metal. Beams like claws reached towards the sky. A couple hundred men and women were working tirelessly to clear debris surrounding the obelisk. Kira's heart rate picked up as they were led inside the structure. She tried to map the layout in her head, but by the time they had reached the room where they were to be locked away, she had become disoriented. She thought she could retrace her steps and get out, but she had no idea where within the structure they were.

"Are you okay?" Bellamy asked.

Kira rubbed her recently free wrists in an attempt to exorcise the pain. "Fuck off," she sneered and stepped backwards, away from him.

Bellamy's heart sank at her rejection. He was trying to keep them both alive and find the others; _couldn't she see that?_

The doors slid open and Kane walked in. He grabbed a chair and sat down facing the prisoners. Bellamy could have punched him. He looked smug and acted like they were friends.

"How long are you gonna keep us locked up in here?" Bellamy demanded.

"Until I'm sure you're no longer a threat to others," Kane answered. "Now, we need to know what we're up against. How many grounders attacked? Two, three hundred?" he asked Kira.

Kira didn't answer. She remained seated in the corner and snarled at the man.

Bellamy became defensive. _How dare he address her?_ "She doesn't know anything. She hasn't been with them in years."

"Alright," Kane replied and repeated his question to Bellamy: "How many grounders attacked?"

"I didn't count," he answered through clenched teeth.

"Why do you think they attacked? What provoked them?" Kane continued.

"We were here. That was enough." Bellamy was growing impatient.

Kira wanted to point out that it was Trikru territory and they were defending their home, but wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of speaking. Not yet, anyway.

"We're wasting time! The others didn't just vanish into thin air," Bellay said. "They were taken and we need to go after them."

"A search team is prepping to leave, but not before we've gotten the intel we need from you," Kane explained. "Tell me what we're up against: grounder tactics, their numbers, what kind of weapons they used."

"Arrows and spears, axes, swords," Bellamy shrugged. "Their teeth."

"No guns?" Kane asked out of surprise.

Kira scoffed. "Never guns."

"Never?"

"If a grounder ever fires a gun, his whole village will be wiped out," Kira explained.

Bellamy wanted to laugh at the superstition, but he saw the fear in her eyes. She truly believed guns would harm the grounders.

They were interrupted when a tall, blonde woman brought in Murphy. "Dr. Griffin cleared him from medical," she explained.

"Alright, put him over there, Major Bryne," Kane ordered.

The boy was placed closer to Kira than Bellamy to everyone's comfort except for Bellamy's. Murphy eyed Bellamy warily, but quickly caught Kira's eye. She smiled at him, grateful for the company of someone who hadn't pissed her off. The three were all restrained, each to their own section of wall.

"Looks like my luck's turning around," Murphy winked at her.

Bellamy cursed under his breath. It was like he was asking to get the shit kicked out of him.

Kira rested her head on the wall behind her and closed her eyes. It began to hit her just how tired she was. She was grateful for the thin layer of cloth between her skin and the metal around her, but before she could drift off to sleep, faint screams began permeating the air. Kira's eyes snapped open, but the boys didn't look concerned.

"Yeah that was me at the grounder camp," Murphy said. "I did everything I could not to scream, but eventually-"

"Eventually you broke and told them everything," Bellamy glowered.

"Like you wouldn't have," Kira sneered at him.

"I'm not a traitor!" he yelled at her and immediately regretted it. He wanted to win her back. He liked having her on his side, in his arms, but now she wouldn't even look at him. Everything he did seemed to worsen the situation.

Murphy scoffed. "If you want to believe that you're so much better than me, that's fine. But they tortured me for three days in their prison camp. Three days. Back me up here, sweetheart?"

"I'm not you're sweetheart," Kira growled. "And it's not my fight."

Bellamy smiled; maybe he hadn't lost her completely.

Kira couldn't tell how much time had passed without a view to the outside. Yet with every passing moment, she could feel her anger towards Bellamy diminishing. She was the one who chose to surrender, even if it was for him. Bellamy noticed the change in her body language. Her shoulders dropped and her posture softened; resigned to the fact that she wasn't going free anytime soon. With Murphy asleep, Bellamy decided to hedge his bets with her.

"I'm sorry they arrested us, but why are you so angry?" He asked.

"I told you," Kira sighed. "I told you I don't belong with your people. I wanted to, but I don't."

"You belong with me," he growled.

Kira smiled at him because it was a nice sentiment, but part of her wished these people had never fallen from the sky. She had grown used to being on her own and her simple words was turned inside out because a couple months ago she saw a boy with dark hair and strong, sad eyes.

The doors to their prison hissed open and saved Kira from formulating a proper response. Finn rushed through the doors followed by Monroe. He carried a pair of wire cutters and made for Bellamy. "Get up," Finn said as he freed him. "We're going after them."

"It's about time," Bellamy said and helped to free Kira.

"Hey, woah, wait," Murphy cried out. "What about me?"

Bellamy picked up the wire cutters and Murphy flinched. He cut the wire that held Murphy to the wall, but kept his hands bound together. "He's coming with us," Bellamy declared. "He's been to the grounder camp a lot more recently than Kira."

"He's right!" Murphy readily agreed. "I can take you there!"

Kira didn't understand why they were going to the Trikru camp. _Didn't I say the Mountain Men had the kids?_ "Listen to me. They don't have your friends."

"We have to know for sure," Bellamy responded.

"Sterling just signaled!" Monroe said. "Someone's coming."

The girl ran off and Finn followed. Kira went after him while Bellamy stayed behind Murphy who was now his prisoner to take care of. Kira looked at the group of ragtag teens. The boy from before she was arrested was with them and she figured he must be Sterling. _Sky people have strange names._ She trudged after them, out of the camp, and into the forest. She couldn't understand why Bellamy wasn't listening to her, but she was free and chose not to press her luck.

Bellamy felt slightly guilty for blowing Kira off, but he was focused on keeping Murphy restrained and talking. When the group stopped in front of Clarke's mom and a guard, Bellamy nearly panicked. They weren't a mile outside of camp and they had been caught because he hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings.

"You're late," Abby spoke.

"Bellamy decided to bring company," Finn explained.

Abby looked over the group and noticed the grounder and Murphy who was still being held prisoner.

"He can get us to the grounder camp," Bellamy said.

"I thought that's what she was for," Abby frowned. She didn't like the idea of letting the grounder go in the first place.

"She hasn't been there in years," Bellamy told her.

Abby nodded, accepting this as fact and handed over her gun. The guard gave weapons to each of the kids as well except for Murphy. From her bag, Abby brought out a cluster of knives, arrows, and a bow, and gave these to the grounder. Kira thanked her and began strapping all of her weapons back into place.

"Find my son," the guard said. "His name is Nathan Miller."


	15. Chapter 15

They ran east with Kira leading the way if just to prove to them that their friends were not prisoners of the Trikru. The kids did a surprisingly good job of keeping up, until Murphy started to lag behind.

"I can't keep running," he panted. "We don't even know if the guy Finn killed is telling the truth."

Finn grabbed the shoulder of Murphy's jacket and began to drag him. "Move," he ordered.

"Give him a minute," Bellamy said.

"No we can't!" Finn argued. "They could kill our friends at any minute."

Bellamy pulled Finn aside and they began to argue.

"Does the actual grounder get a say in this?" Monroe interrupted.

Kira looked up from cleaning her nails with a knife. "I'm just here to kill a few Trikru and have a good time. But by the way we're standing in a field of bodies."

Monroe looked around and gasped. Not three feet away from Bellamy were two bodies surrounded by buzzing flies.

"Fall in," Bellamy ordered.

They walked in single file, discovering a new body every few steps. It was more of a trail than field. Kira picked up the collar of her shirt and put it over her nose and mouth in an attempt to filter out the smell of rotting death.

"Where the hell did they come from?" Murphy wondered.

"From the ark," Bellamy answered him, observing their clothing.

They continued until they came upon the main wreckage. The group spread out to look for survivors, but there were none. They were just about to head out when a girl cried from over the edge of the cliff. Kira squatted down and peered over the ledge. The girl was clinging to a branch the jutted out from the side of the cliff and Kira doubted she would make it, but had learned not to say anything.

"Hey! Up here!" Bellamy called.

The girl looked up and saw the group of sky people peering down at her. "Help me!"

"Mel?" Sterling recognized the girl.

"Help!" She cried again.

"We have to do something!" Sterling said.

Finn shook his head. They didn't have time to stop and help anyone. Kira noticed he had begun arguing with Bellamy again. She sighed and gathered they what they had for rope. She motioned to Sterling for help without a word. It was one thing to be a ruthless killer, but you needed to have room to help friends and allies.

"Hold on, Mel!" Sterling called to her and began lowering himself down.

"What are you doing?" Finn shouted at Kira who was holding onto the length of rope that Sterling had secured to a tree stump.

It was too late to stop them, though, Sterling was already rappelling down the side of the cliff. Kira thought about answering him; sharing her experience. She learned it was important to remove your feelings and be a killer, but to walk the fine line and not lose all of your humanity by helping those on your side. Instead she remained quiet.

"Well it looks like we're taking our break after all," Murphy smirked.

"I'm almost there," Sterling called to them. "Once I have her, pull us up!"

"I'd say he's heard one too many of your motivational speeches," Murphy said.

"Shut up, Murphy," Bellamy growled.

Kira noticed the rope beginning to slip. The knot wasn't good. "Sterling, come back up!" she called. But before he could the knot broke free and she was forced to let go of the rope. Their screams echoed in her ears long after they had stopped. She closed her eyes hoping to block it out and refused to move.

Bellamy looked at Kira and then peered over the edge. The girl was still clinging to the rock surface although there was no sign of Sterling. His instinct was to comfort Kira, but he knew that wasn't the right choice for a leader. "Mel!" he called. "Mel, hold on! Focus you can do this."

"No!" she yelled back.

Kira heard the girl's voice and relaxed. She hadn't let both of them down.

"Yes you can. You're strong," Bellamy said.

"I'm not strong," she cried. "Stubborn, maybe."

"So be stubborn a little longer," Bellamy said. "I'm not gonna let you die, you hear me?" He looked back at the group and noticed the Kira had recovered. He felt a weight lift from him. "Our friends may be dead already," he tried justifying himself, mainly to Finn. "We don't know if we can save them, but we can save her."

"Sterling was one of us. She was his friend," Monroe spoke up. "I'm in."

"How do we do it?" Murphy sighed.

They made new rope from scavenging the wreckage. Kira fitted the harness over Bellamy and he made sure to kiss her.

"I hope you're right about this," Finn muttered.

"So do I," Bellamy replied while looking at Kira.

"You are," she lied; her gut churning.

The group worked together to lower Bellamy to Mel. As they pulled her up, the knot once again snapped. Kira never felt so much panic in her life, even when the group regained control of the rope. Arrows from the trees started flying and Kira cursed for not noticing them earlier. She decided would never lose someone she cared for again. She let go of the rope. If she thought about it, she probably wouldn't have. She was never good at trusting others. But she freed herself and took her own bow to fire back at the men in the trees. Then the horn blew and Kira thought they would all die. They'd never get Bellamy back before the fog. Already, the archers were leaving.

"Shit!" Kira yelled and scrambled to help hoist the rope.

Mel climbed over the ledge first and then Bellamy followed. He crawled right into Kira's arms. It was a terrible decision, risking his life like that. He heard his name called from someone else. He lifted his head to see Octavia running towards them.

Kira released him and was immediately replaced by Octavia.

"Nice horn," Murphy observed the instrument tied to her belt. "What happened to your boyfriend?"

"He's gone," she barked.

"What do you mean?" Kira demanded. Surely she meant he had abandoned the Trikru. Went to join Luna, perhaps.

"I don't know," Octavia told her. "The grounders will be back. We need to go now."

Kira growled and moved away from the group where she began pacing. She didn't listen to them planning. Her thoughts focused solely on her twin brother. _He loved Octavia,_ she tried to reason. _He wouldn't just leave her._

"We're splitting up," Bellamy told Kira. "I think you should go with Finn and Murphy."

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm taking Octavia and Monroe back to camp. The arrows might have been poisoned," he explained. "I'll come back and meet you."

"Promise," Kira demanded. "I nearly lost it just now. Promise you'll be okay without me."

Bellamy almost laughed. She had been looking out for him all this time, but he never thought of her as a protector. "I promise."


	16. Chapter 16

When the village came into view, the two boys dropped to the ground and used the scopes of their guns to look ahead. Kira saw that it was clearly unguarded and, as she suspected, not the place they needed to be.

"Twenty-six," Murphy declared.

"No, I count 28," Finn corrected.

"These people don't look like warriors," Murphy said.

"That's because they're not," Kira sighed. "Can we go?"

"There's nothing big enough here to hold our friends," Murphy agreed.

Finn dropped his gun and glared at them. "They could be underground."

"You think people who live in stick and mud huts managed to make an underground jail?" Kira scoffed. "You're more delusional than I thought."

Nothing Kira said registered with Finn. When he saw her, all he saw was a grounder he couldn't kill because Bellamy said so. "We wait until dark. Then we go in."

"Go in? Your people aren't here," Kira tried again.

"They're here. Or they were when they took Clarke's watch," Finn said.

"What if we're too late?" Murphy asked. "I mean, they're probably already dead."

Finn reached out and grabbed Murphy's collar, shaking him. "Don't you say that," he growled. "Don't say that!"

⃝⃝⃝

Bellamy couldn't believe that Clarke had to argue with Abby to let them go back out there. If any of them died it was on him for letting the group split up. He knew Kira would be fine, but he couldn't be sure she wouldn't leave the two idiots she was with to die.

"I'm sorry, but the decision's been made," Abby said.

"You're sorry?" Bellamy stepped forward. "Finn and Murphy are out there looking for your daughter with guns you gave us. And now she's home, you're just gonna abandon them? You might not understand this cause you just got here, but we had a way of life. We made it after months of being here and my girl is trying to keep those boys in line. You won't go after them? I'm going after her."

They were interrupted by Abby's apprentice, calling her back to medical. "No," she told them a final time before heading off.

"We're gonna need weapons," Clarke said to Bellamy.

"Alright. Let's go talk to Raven."

⃝⃝⃝

Kira couldn't figure out why she listened to Bellamy and was following this boy. The idiot was going to get himself and his friend killed. There was no reason for them to be in this village, yet he insisted on fucking things up.

"Finn, no!" Murphy hissed as the boy took a hostage, fleeing from the fire.

Kira chose not to tail immediately Finn like Murphy did. She remained crouching in the shadows, trying to pick out people she recognized, but between the darkness and the hysteria, she couldn't make out a familiar face. Not until Finn had rounded them all up at least, then she saw Nyko. Kira found her feet carrying her forward against her will.

"Kira, what are you doing?" She heard Murphy ask, but continued to approach the faux-gate.

"Kira?" Nyko looked up and saw the girl for the first time in six years. It took him a moment to put together that she was there with the sky people. "Traitor," he spat.

She barked out laughter. "I'm a traitor? You left me and your unborn child to die!"

"You stole food," he replied calmly.

"Because I was carrying your son! All you had to do was give me an alibi" Kira cried, holding back every instinct to punch him. "You're all maggots," she sneered in her native tongue, turning her back on them.

Murphy whistled, unable to believe his ears; Bellamy's girl was almost a mother.

"I assume it didn't make it," Nyko couldn't keep himself from asking.

"No. He didn't. But I was eight months in. I had to give birth to your son anyway," Kira growled.

None of it registered to Finn, though. He was incensed by the finding of the jacket. "Their clothes were here. They were here!" He hoped over the makeshift fence and aimed his gun at Nyko. "You killed them!"

"Your friends were not here," Nyko tried explaining. "I saw one, Octavia, but she was alone."

"These people are scavengers, Finn," Murphy pointed out. "They could have just found the stuff. Kira, back me up."

Kira knew she should step in, but she couldn't speak. She wanted to attack Nyko herself and make him bleed as she did.

Finn threw a girl onto the ground and stepped on her back.

"Stop, stop. Finn, listen to me!" Murphy plead. "Don't do this, man. Let's just walk out of here while we still can. Okay? Finn, please."

Finn paused and then removed his foot, allowing the girl to scramble back to her knees. Murphy pulled him aside, but Kira remained rooted to the spot. She could not come up with the words she wanted to say. She once had a speech of hate and curses, but years passed and the speech evaporated with her ability to hold even a small conversation with another human.

"Look, they're not here, let's just go," Murphy said.

"He told us they were here. Why would he do that?" Finn frowned.

"The guy with one eye? Maybe because you had a gun to his head, Finn," Murphy hissed.

Nyko overheard them speaking. "A guy with one eye?" he interrupted.

Finn took aim.

Nyko raised his hands in surrender. "You saw Delano. A snake. A thief. He and his men were cast out. You are his revenge."

"No!" Kira barked. "They're my revenge."

Finn was momentarily distracted and an older man took the opportunity to hop the fence and run. Finn fired, killing the man. Another of the Trikru reacted and Finn shot him too. Neither Murphy nor Kira thought to raise a weapon toward Finn. Before they had even processed what was happening, he had killed half the hostages.

Bellamy heard the gunshots and panicked. Kira never used a gun; it must have been coming from Finn and Murphy. He began running, reaching the village clearing just in time for Finn to stop firing.

"What happened?" Bellamy asked, embracing her.

Kira looked around, not entirely sure. There were maybe seven survivors of Finn's massacre, including Nyko.

When she didn't answer Bellamy released her and approached Murphy. "I couldn't stop him," Murphy explained. "I didn't want to shoot him. I couldn't stop him."

"And Kira?" Bellamy had to ask.

"Your girl has some serious issues.

Bellamy grabbed Kira's arm to keep her from walking past him. She gasped in pain, startled by the sudden act of aggression. "What does he mean?" He hissed about Murphy's comment.

"We'll talk about it later," she told him, wiping tears from her cheeks that she hadn't realized she had cried.

"No. You'll tell me now," Bellamy demanded.

Kira yanked her arm free. "I said later."

Bellamy grabbed both of her arms and pulled her close until their faces were only inches apart. Kira's breath caught in her throat, not out of fear of Bellamy, but fear of being confronted with her own truth. "I went through the ridiculous ritual of beating the shit out of each other so that we could be together. You'll tell me now: who that was, what Murphy meant, and why you're upset," he demanded.

Kira groaned, but Bellamy wasn't letting her go. "Before I was banished, I was pregnant," she began slowly, searching his eyes for some indication of how he felt. His face remained impassive as he waited for Kira to continue. Inside, he was panicking; her having a child was the last thing he expected to hear, but he didn't betray his emotions. "They would have punished me for having a kid and not being married, so only two people knew: Lincoln and the father, Nyko. That guy is Nyko. We were never together, we just fucked," Kira clarified quickly as though that would help things. "Even when he found out I was pregnant he never proposed. That's why I stole more food than we had. I was eating for two. When they gave my sentence he never tried to defend me or the kid."

"What happened to the kid?" Bellamy asked quietly.

"Died before he was born. I couldn't take care of myself properly on my own," Kira choked, trying desperately not to cry in front him.

Bellamy embraced her as tightly as he could. "I am so sorry."

"I would never have been able to take care of it out here. It would have died anyway," she sniffed. The same lie she had told herself for six years.


	17. Chapter 17

Kira sat in the dirt just outside the ark station. No one had assigned her a job. It seemed as though the Skaikru elders were pretending she didn't exist. If she didn't exist they didn't have to accept her or worry about her rabid, Grounder tendencies. Kira wanted to be part of the guard. She would never touch one of their guns, of course, but killing was the only thing she was good at and for the guards that counted as a job.

"There you are." Bellamy sat down next to her and kissed her cheek.

"Taking a break from your war plans?" Kira asked.

He sighed. "I don't know what to do. Clarke and I are the only ones who are even concerned about our friends. How are you doing?"

"I'm still getting used to having a roof over my head," she admitted.

"Well if you'd rather sleep in a tree just let me know so I can join you," he smirked.

"Don't be silly," Kira said. "You can't have sex in a tree."

Bellamy put a hand on her knee and leaned over to kiss her. Kira kissed him back and twisted her fingers into his hair.

"Bellamy!"

Startled, Bellamy pulled away and looked up. Clarke was frowning down at them. "Mount Weather," she said.

"Yeah? Can't go without a way out. Or weapons," Bellamy shrugged. He didn't understand where the patronizing attitude was coming from. Clarke had mellowed out a while back, but it seemed like the return of the ark was also the return of the Princess.

"We're going. Now."

Kira hopped up, excited for an adventure. Any kind of mission was better than sitting around the camp, even if it meant going up against the mountain men. Bellamy wasn't far behind. He wanted to know what was going on, but understood it wasn't the time for questions. They needed to leave as soon as possible; he could ask on the way.

The group was small, barely a task force. Raven, Clarke, Abby, Finn, Octavia, and three guards joined Bellamy and Kira and this time, they all got weapons.

Kira was elated to be back in the forest. She walked soundlessly, picking her way over branches and dead leaves. It was as if she never left; she flitted through the trees as no more than a ghost. But she never strayed too far from the group no matter how much faster she could move. She wouldn't let her Bellamy out of her sight: Bellamy or Lincoln's Octavia.

"I can't believe they let Finn come," Octavia said.

"He's the best tracker we've got," Bellamy pointed out.

"Kira is the best tracker we've got," O corrected and Kira smiled.

"True, but no one else trusts her," he growled. "It's ridiculous. She's been with us for months; they've known her for weeks, but they don't let her do shit."

Kira returned beside him and grabbed his hand. "I don't mind," she lied. "And right now we're safe. There's no sign of anyone else: trikru or mountain men.

"I'm just trying to take care of you," Bellamy said.

"I know," Kira replied. She loved it. She thought it was adorable that he thought he was taking care of her when she was trying to take care of him.

Hiking through the woods, the mountain emerged in front of them. "Let's go." Bellamy said.

Kira ducked away from the group and Bellamy and Octavia followed as quietly as they could, gradually falling behind the rest. When they were far enough from the group, Kira spoke. "You know that I don't actually know a way in, right?"

"Yeah, just get us to the base, sweetheart," Bellamy said.

"Fuck you. Walk towards the mountain," Kira sneered. "Trikru don't even come this far. Unless you see a man in a mask we'll be fine. And they're not the sneaky type."

"He didn't mean to offend you," Octavia said.

"I know," Kira grumbled. "I can't help myself. Sometime you sky people are just so obvious."

"According to Clarke before the bomb there were buildings everywhere here," Bellamy interrupted. He learned on the ark that the last thing you wanted was for your girlfriend to talk to your family. "So I'm guessing some of them had access to the bunker. We're looking for ruins. Anything that's man made."

"You should have just said so, Bell. This way." Kira motioned and ran off.

Bellamy cursed under his breath as he followed her. He hated it when she ran. They had been on the ground for a little while, but never having a chance to go full sprint on the Ark, there was no way anyone could ever keep up with a Grounder.

"Blake!" a guard called and all three stopped to look over their shoulder.

"Let's go. Right now," he commanded the siblings and the Grounder. He tried not to look at her. It was unsettling. It was unsettling the way her hair stuck together in clumps and she wore kohl under her eyes. Sure she wore an Ark shirt, but over it was the skin of a wolf. She was a barbarian.

Bellamy scoffed and stepped in between Kira and their weapons. "In case you've forgotten; we're not under your command."

"Don't make us do this the hard way," the guard threated and aimed his gun, not towards himself, but at Kira.

That was unacceptable. "Come on, Scott," he growled. "47 of our people are prisoners in this mountain!"

Scott remembered Bellamy when he was a cadet. He wanted to help him, but he was a guard; he had orders. "That's why we're out here."

"Enough!" Bellamy shouted. "You're out here to find other stations of the Ark. We're out here to find our friends!"

Kira watched the roaches and other bugs swarm past their feet, but she didn't have the words. She felt only anger at herself. She should have the words by now, but she didn't know how to warn them about things they should have been seeing. She elbowed Octavia and pointed down.

"Bell!" Octavia cried.

The guards looked down as well. "What are they doing?" Scott asked.

"Running," Bellamy said. "We need cover. Now! Deploy your tents!"

Kira grabbed his hand. "NO. This way."

Bellamy was pushed into the rock face by his own momentum. The inertia from Kira plowed him into the cliff's side. He put his hands against the cold stone. He pressed his hands against it, trying to feel. "There's a handle!" He called. "A door!" His hands wrapped around the handle and he tugged. It didn't budge, but Octavia helped. Finally it squeaked open. The guards ran towards it, but one was behind the rest. They watch and O gasped as he was swallowed up by the fog.

Kira had seen several of her people burn in that fog. She remained stoic and waited for Bellamy and O to accept that he was lost. She waited as they called out the name "Brixton" and then sealed the door before venturing further inside.

"Where are we?" asked the guard, Scott.

"Looks like a garage," Bellamy said.

"More like a tomb," O corrected as they walked past cars that have never ran.

Kira looked at the beasts on wheels and tapped one. It echoed back in mechanical affirmation. She jumped several feet away, nearly colliding with Bellamy.

He caught Kira, wrapping his arms around hers. "Sorry about your friend," he told Scott. "But we need to find an access door to Mount. Weather."

"Not so fast!" Scott stopped him from running off. He held out a hand gun to Bellamy. "Meet us back here in fifteen minutes."

Bellamy nodded and the trio dove deeper into the carpark. Kira couldn't help but to check over her shoulder ever couple of minutes. The sound of her feet on the concrete was strange to her and all the echoes were more distinct.

Those echoes. One noise that they couldn't identify reached back to the trio. Bellamy swung his flashlight around; landing on grounders eating on a body.

"Reapers!" Kira cried.

Bellamy pushed himself in front of her and passed a gun to Octavia

"What's this?" she asked before examining the scene in front of them. She looked at that reaper, bent over the body and recognized him. "Lincoln?" she called. "He's eating someone!" Octavia turned to Bellamy and Kira. "Lincoln! It's me!"

"He doesn't recognize you," Kira said. "He won't recognize me. He's a reaper." A pit grew in her stomach. No one ever came back from being a reaper and now she had to watch it happen to her little brother.

Lincoln heard their voices and left his meal. Life was a threat so he charged. Bellamy took the butt of his gun and hit Lincoln, causing him to fall. The trio took the moment and ran, hiding in one of the vehicles covered in a hundred years of dust. Kira laid on top of Bellamy and he put an arm around her chest, keeping her close. Octavia crouched beside them, wondering why they were hiding and not taking action.

"How is this even possible?" Octavia asked.

Kira wasn't sure how reapers became reapers, but she could feel her resolve shrinking. For all the years she spent without Lincoln, for all her threats, and her hatred of the Trikru, she couldn't bear to see him like this. Losing him was one thing; never getting him back was another.

Lincoln growled from outside of the vehicle, his face inches from the window.

"Can he see us?" Octavia asked.

Lincoln peered through the glass, but he wasn't looking at them. He smashed his hand against the window; against his own reflection and loped away.

"I'll get him back," Bellamy promised both of them.

They slipped out of the vehicle as silently as they could and kept Lincoln's back towards them.

"You got this?" Bellamy asked.

Kira nodded. "Lincoln!" she yelled.

The reaper turned his head at the noise. He spotted the two girls and ran towards them, growling. Bellamy touched the electric wand to Lincoln's neck before he could get to Kira and O. His body convulsed as the electricity moved through him. His body fell to the ground, unconscious before anyone could catch him.

"Now what?" Octavia asked.

"We take him home," Bellamy said. He had no idea what he was doing. He wasn't even sure what reapers were. He only knew that Lincoln was dangerous, but both of the women in his life loved him so killing him wasn't an option no matter how much he'd like to end his life.


	18. Chapter 18

It took the three of them to carry the unconscious Lincoln away from Mount Weather. With his arms around their shoulders, they dragged him back to the old dropship site where they knew they wouldn't be disturbed by the adults from the ark. They had to move quickly to bind his arms and legs with chains before he regained consciousness.

"We need help," Octiavia said. "Where's Clarke when you need her?"

"Back at the ark," Bellamy groaned. "I'll be back soon."

Kira sighed. "Be careful," she murmured to his back as he exited the ship.

As if on cue, Lincoln regained consciousness and began straining against the chains. He hissed and growled at them, but couldn't move. Kira and Octavia moved away and sat in the dark of the ship, waiting for him to tire himself out.

"You know when we were kids, he used to talk about the stars as if you could live on one." Kira wasn't sure if it was the kind of think Octavia wanted to talk about, but it made herself feel better to focus on happy memories so she kept going. "Everyone told him that the sky was just the sky, but he was determined. He needed to see for himself. When we were seven, he climbed the tallest tree he could find. He made it to the top and then fell about halfway back down. I thought that proved that the sky was its own entity, but Lincoln thought that just meant he needed something taller than a tree to get there. He must have been so excited when you fell out of the sky." Kira sighed and noticed the silence around them.

Lincoln had finally given up.

The sound of boots against metal stirred him up not a minute later and Bellamy appeared through the hatch followed by Clarke. She started as Lincoln lunged at her.

"Can you help him?" Octavia asked weakly.

"I don't know," Clarke said. "I knew Mount Weather controlled the reapers, but I had no idea they were creating them."

"If they can do that to Lincoln, then what are they doing to our friends?" Bellamy asked.

Lincoln lunged again, but stopped midway. His body dropped and then all his muscles tensed as he began seizing.

"Do something!" Octavia shouted.

Clarke moved closer to study Lincoln and her eyes landed on the patch of red on his thigh. "What happened to his leg?" she asked.

"I shot him," Octavia said.

"He's lost a lot of blood," Bellamy added.

Kira growled. "It doesn't fucking matter. That's a reaper. It'll break free and kill us. It's what they do." She looked around and none of them responded would look at her. "Fuck this. Someone should be on guard." She gathered up her weapons and bolted from the ship. She walked along the perimeter of the ship. She needed all of her focus to watch the treeline if she was going to spot another grounder before they spotted her. It would be impossible to think about Lincoln. She had said goodbye to him years ago and thought that was it, but now the selfish ass had wormed his way back into her life and now she had to say goodbye again.

Seeing everyone's distress, Bellamy instinctively jumped into leader-mode. He barked orders about fixing his leg and watching him before following Kira. He spotted her pacing and made sure to approach her directly from her front.

Kira noticed him as soon as he left the ship, but didn't stop until he was standing in her path. She let him approach and he gently placed his hands on her hips, but maintained a tense, defensive posture.

"Please come back inside," he said. "He's your brother."

"That is not my brother," Kira shook her head. "The kindest thing to do now would be to put him down."

"Since reapers are manufactured by Mount Weather we think there's a way to fix him."

Kira narrowed her eyes. "How?"

"They drugged him. We just need him to detox; get it out of his system and make sure he doesn't die in the process," Bellamy explained. "Now will you come back inside? Do you expect an attack?"

Kira relaxed, nodding her head.

Bellamy smiled and kissed her forehead. He felt better having her inside in case they needed defense against Lincoln.

In the dropship, Lincoln was struggling once again. He pulled the restraints from the wall and lunged at the person closest to him; Octavia. She screamed and fell. Being unable to hit him, she was at a loss of how to defend herself. Bellamy rushed to his sister's aid, but Lincoln caught him and after a brief struggle tossed him across the room. He pursued, but Clarke stepped into his path. Lincoln backhanded her and perceiving, Bellamy as the greatest threat, continued his advance. He landed a punch before Kira was able to force herself into action. With a staff she hit him upside the head with enough force to knock him over. She remised, knocking him out.

"That felt good," she admitted with a sigh, leaning on the staff.

The group moved quickly to fix his restraints, this time fixing him to the floor. As he regained consciousness, Octavia gently poured water into his open mouth. Lincoln growled at her and spilled the water everywhere.

"I'll get some more," she gulped as she held back tears.

"Once we get the drug out of his system, he'll be okay," Bellamy told her.

"You can't protect me from this one, big brother," Octavia pushed past him.

He recognized the look on her face; she was trying to be strong, but all she wanted to do was cry. He looked towards Kira, not entirely sure how this was affecting her. "Are you okay?"

"I said goodbye to him a long time ago," Kira answered, not betraying any kind of emotion to him.

Octavia returned through the hatch followed closely by Nyko.

Immediately, Bellamy grabbed his gun and aimed for the grounder.

Kira didn't even notice Bellamy. She jumped in between the gun and Nyko. "Fucking cunt!" she spat.

Octavia used all of her energy to keep Kira back. "Don't!" she begged. "He's a friend; a healer!"

"He's a fucking dog!" Kira yelled back. She knew she was a violent person, but never felt the urge to murder the way she did when she saw Nyko's face.

Lincoln began seizing again, distracting Kira just long enough that she didn't kill Nyko.

"Can you help him?" Bellamy asked.

Nyko nodded and Bellamy lowered his weapon. Kira growled as Nyko walked past, but didn't stop him. Kneeling next to the reaper, Nyko pulled out a vial. He spoke softly and held tilted the vial over Lincoln.

Kira kicked Nyko in the shoulder, surprising even herself. Nyko scrambled away as Kira drew her weapon. "That's what we say before death. He doesn't mean to heal him." With her blade forward, she advanced.

A boy entered through the hatch, interpreting the attack once again. "We have to go!" Finn declared. "The camp's leaving."

Nyko recognized him and lunged: "Murderer!"

"Get off him!" Bellamy raised his gun,

"You slaughtered my people!" Nyko shouted, not stopping despite Bellamy's threat.

"Nyko, you're killing him!" Octavia begged as though it would help.

"Blood must have blood," he recited.

Bellamy leveled his gun at Nyko, but Clarke stepped in and touched the cattle prod to Nyko. He dropped releasing Finn just as Lincoln collapsed into another seizure.

Octavia rushed to his side. "He's not breathing!" she cried.

"Move," Clarke ordered and knelt over him.

Kira watched in amazement as Clarke pressed her lips to Lincoln's and then began to press her hands against his chest in a steady beat. She couldn't understand the purpose of Clarke's actions until Lincoln gasped. _Magic._

"He was dead. How did you do that?" Nyko demanded.

"Where did you learn that?" Kira asked at the same time. "Do you have sorcerers in space?"

Clarke had no inclination to laugh at Kira although she couldn't help but balk at the girl's nativity. "It wasn't magic. It was science. CPR. Anyone can do it. Have you tried bringing reapers back before?"

Nyko and Kira both nodded.

"And they died like this?"

The two nodded again.

Bellamy saw the gears turning in Clarke's head. "What is it?"

"I know how to stop the attack," Clarke declared. "Finn. We're going back to Camp Jaha."

When they leave the ship fell into an awkward silence. Bellamy and Kira wanted Nyko dead, but Octavia wouldn't have it. At the moment Lincoln wanted to kill them all, but they wanted to keep him alive. Minutes felt like hours and Kira was beginning to feel claustrophobic. Normally minutes that felt like hours were a good thing in Bellamy's arms, but at the moment she only wanted out, to return to the trees.

Literal hours later, Finn returned with Abby.

"Where's Clarke?" Octavia asked.

"Trying to stop a war," Finn said.

Without any more fuss, Abby assumed role of healer. "Tie off his arm," she ordered.

Kira watched with interest and tried to reconcile her own feelings. She spent so much time alone she forgot how to categorize emotions and how to act on them. Loving Bellamy was simple: she obeyed him, he took care of her, and they protected each other. Her brother was more complicated and watching him teeter between insanity and death left her questioning what she wanted of him. She glanced sideways and Nyko every few moments to make sure he was behaving himself. At least she knew she still wanted an excuse to bury her knife in his skull.

"You're stopping. What's wrong!" Octavia shouted.

"I'm sorry. He's gone," Abby said.

"No. It's not possible!" Octavia threw herself across Lincoln's chest. "You're wrong!"

The words sounded off to Kira's ears; far away. She was in a dream. For all the times she thought Lincoln dead, it was nothing compared to seeing his body in front of her. Abby rose, but Kira sank to her knees beside Octavia. Bellamy was not expected such an emotional reaction from Kira, but knelt down and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

Clarke appeared through the hatch followed by a few more grounders. One girl wore war paint and held herself like a leader.

 _She must be the new commander,_ Kira thought. _The one bringing the clans together._

"You lied," the Heda spoke. "And you're out of time."

Kira only tore her eyes away from the girl when she heard the buzz of the cattle prod. Abby touched it to Lincoln's chest. He convulsed, but then his eyes fluttered open.

"Octavia," he muttered before passing out, but remained breathing.


	19. Chapter 19

Clarke left with the commander to negotiate while Abby and the rest brought Lincoln back to camp. They took Lincoln straight to the medical bay and restrained him to the cot, despite Octavia's protests, Lincoln agreed with Abby that it was for the best. Kira sat with him, not looking at him and not speaking after the others had left. Lincoln didn't try to speak with her either; it was enough that she was there.

Commotion from outside echoed through the halls as sky people exited the ship. For the first time since Lincoln was revived, Kira looked at him. He made eye contact with her and nodded. Dismissed, Kira moved outside to find Bellamy. He was speaking to a small group which included Abby, Clarke, and Finn. Bellamy moved to let Kira into the circle next to him.

"What's wrong?" Finn asked.

"They want you," Clarke sighed. "If we want a truce, we have to give them Finn."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Raven demanded. "That's out of the question."

"That's their offer," Clarke tried to calmly explain.

Finn gulped. "It's not an offer; it's punishment."

"Blood must have blood," Kira said. "That's-" she choked over her words. She was part of the sky people now; at least she was trying to be. "their way."

The crowd around them began to rustle with voices. The loud ones didn't want to go to battle for the life of one boy. A couple of the men started advancing and Raven shoved him. "Get back!"

Bellamy and Kira snapped into action, policing the crowd while Clarke grabbed Raven. "Nothing is going to happen to him," Clarke said. "I promise, okay?"

"I'm not dying for him!" a man in the crowd shouted. "Spacewalker burned three months of oxygen from the ark. He should have floated a long time ago."

"Throw him out!" another seconded.

Raven pulled free from Clarke and tried to fight them again. Kira backed her; it was the leader's decision to make, not the crowd's. This was how anarchy started and those men needed to be kept in their place. Major Bryne moved in to break up the fight, but Raven, riding on adrenaline turned and punched the guard. The other guards moved in and arrested Raven while Bellamy put a hand on Kira's shoulder, gently guiding her back and away from the guards. He wouldn't let them lock her up again.

⃝⃝⃝

Kira spent the night sitting with her knees to her chin, watching the riders. The horses would occasionally shift, but otherwise the remained still all night; no one came to relieve them of their watch. She didn't know the two men which helped her feel further removed and more like a member of the Skaikru. As she stared at them she couldn't be sure if they were taunting her or she was taunting them from behind the gate. She kept her furs, but the Skaikru had given her new boots to go with Bellamy's proper shirt which she wore. Life was looking pretty comfy compared to the Trikru.

At dawn Abby marched to the gate to announce her decision to the riders. "We're not giving him up!" she declared. "We're ready to fight if that's what it comes to."

Without a words, the riders turned and headed towards the tree line.

Bellamy command of his guards. "Watch the trees! Watch for movement!"

No sooner were the words out of his mouth that there was movement on the tree line.

"Don't shoot!" the man shouted and held up his hands. As he got closer, it became clear that he was the former leader, Kane.

They opened the gates to let him in and then quickly shut them, most of the guards' guns remaining trained on the trees.

Kira moved from her seat for the first time since the night. She wanted to know why they let Kane go. Was he infected like when the Trikru sent Murphy back to the dropship?

"You can't be out in the open. We need to get somewhere safe," Bellamy told Kane.

"It is safe," he said. "For the moment. I managed to buy us a bit of time. Come we need to talk." Kane's eyes fell on Kira. "You too."

Kira was the only non-chancellor in the room. Even Jaha, shackled, was invited to the discussion, but none of the kids that had survived on the ground for so long without them. Kira sulked, thinking that Bellamy at least should be involved. He was the leader of the original hundred.

"How did you get out?" Kira demanded.

"They let me go," Kane told her. "I wasn't a prisoner, but they didn't let me outside either. Then they brought me here with a bag over my head."

Kira grabbed his head and pulled open his eye to examine him. Jaha and Abby moved quickly to take out Kira, but Kane waved his hand to keep them back. "You don't look infected," Kira murmured, confused.

"Why would I be infected?" Kane asked as Kira stepped back.

"Battle tactic. It softens the battle ground. The disease doesn't kill you, but everyone is too busy bleeding and throwing up to fight back," Kira explained. "It's a Trikru tactic. They used it on your children."

Kane believed her, but didn't think that he was infected. "The commander promised me time. So I don't think they sent me to spread a disease. I think that I have an alternative solution. I think the commander would be willing to let us put the boy on trial ourselves. For war crimes."

"War crimes?" Abby scoffed. "So we execute him instead of them?"

"He'd suffer less," Kira said. "But the commander wouldn't accept it. Blood must have blood," she repeated the moto.

"How could you know that?" Kane asked. "You were banished before she became commander."

"I don't know her, but I know grounders. She takes your offer. You decide to jail him for life. The grounders don't think his punishment is equal to his crime. They mutiny. They kill her. Then they come for us."

⃝⃝⃝

Kira was exhausted by the time they finally opened the doors. Bellamy pounced on her as soon as they walked out of the room. "You were in there a long time. What happened? What did they decide?"

"Honestly I don't think they decided anything. Jaha wants to run. Kane wants to try Finn here. Abby would rather fight," Kira told him. "But none of that changes what the grounders want."

Bellamy watched Abby speak briefly with Major Byrne before walking away. Bryne disappeared, but he noticed the other guards glancing sidelong at the two of them. "They're going to give him up," Bellamy realized.

"And they're watching me," Kira pointed out. "Do what you need to do and stay away from me."

Bellamy kissed her cheek and went to find his friends. Kira knew it would be impossible to avoid all the guards. She also didn't want them to know that she knew she was under watch. So she moved out to the yard where people were milling around, hoping the other sky people would obscure their sight lines.

Murphy walked by her and whispered: "With me," before continuing to the weak spot in the fence.

As casually as she could, Kira followed. Once they crossed the threshold, Murphy explained the plan. "They're going to the dropship: Clarke, Finn, Raven, Bellamy. We split up into pairs. Let's go."

When Murphy and Kira got to the dropship, everyone was already there, but Clarke was unconscious.

"Hold her head!" Bellamy ordered to know one in particular and Murphey moved to obey. Finn paced and cursed, making it obvious that he blamed himself.

"It's just a bump on the head. She'll be alright," Raven tried to calm him.

When Clarke still didn't wake up, they shifted roles. Raven tended to her and Bellamy finally spoke to Kira.

"I thought they were watching you," Bellamy said.

"They were. I ditched them," Kira shrugged. "Murphy came and got me. I thought you wanted me involved."

"It was reckless."

"Do you want me here or not?" Kira growled at him.

"Of course I want you here," Bellamy sighed. "I never want to be anywhere you're not, I also don't want you getting into trouble."

She could have slapped him for being stupid. "We're a pair now- a team- so that's just something you're going to have to get used to."

"We've got company!" Murphy yelled interrupting them. "Grounders!"

They ran to cover the gate with their weapons which was how they realized that Clarke had woken up.

"We're surrounded," Bellamy declared. "Pull back."

The group retreated to back inside the drop ship.

"They're not getting any closer," Murphy pointed out.

"Staying out of range until it gets dark," Bellamy said.

"So what do we do?" He asked.

Kira twirled her blade, ready to fight. "You have guns. You have me. We can take them. It can't be more than a dozen. They wouldn't send an army to take a handful of kids. Plus they don't want to kill you and they'll want Finn alive."

"We can give them something," Raven presented another option.

Bellamy shook his head. "They only want Finn. We're not giving them Finn."

"Finn wasn't the only one at the village," Raven said.

"Fuck you!" Kira barked. They weren't sacrificing her when the grounders wanted Finn. The fact that they hadn't come after her meant they felt she was justified, it wasn't her they needed for revenge.

"Bellamy would never let me give you up," Raven sneered. "Him."

"Woah, woah!" Murphy backed away from her. "I came to protect him. You asked me to come—that's why you asked me to come?" His face fell.

"Enough grounders saw him. They'd believe he was the shooter," Raven explained.

"You can't mean that," Clarke tried to be the voice of reason.

Bellamy couldn't believe Raven was talking about giving up Murphy who for once hadn't actually done anything wrong. "You know what they do to people."

She shrugged. "They want a murderer, we'll give them one."

Kira felt some weird self-righteous shit kick in and half-heartedly decided becoming a sky person sucked. "I incited the massacre. Finn pulled the trigger. If you'd rather give me up than Finn, fine, but leave Murphy out of this."

Raven wasn't listening. She raised her weapon at Murphy. "Drop your gun."

"Go to hell." Murphy stepped forward until the barrel of the gun was pressed against his chest.

Finn stepped in and took the gun from Raven. "We're not doing this. The only choice is to stay and defend this place, okay? You three on the gate. Bellamy upstairs. I'll take the lower level. Kira you're look out."

"Alright. Break," Bellamy agreed and they all moved in separate directions.

Kira climbed to the top of the ship to get the best vantage point. She noticed movement, but waited to see who it was before she called out. She watched helplessly as Finn stepped into the clearing just past the boarder with his hands above his head.

"Finn! No!" Clarke shouted, but half a dozen grounders already moved to grab him.

"The commander wants him alive," one of them said as they carried Finn off.

Kira climbed down from her post and met the others in front of the gate. "Now what?" she asked.

"We go back to camp," Murphy said. "They have him. It's over," he added before anyone could protest.

So they marched in silence back to Camp Jaha with the feeling of defeat looming over them. They returned as night fell and they saw thousands of grounders outside the camp, erecting a pole for Finn. All of Skaikru stood watching from behind the safety of their fence.

"This isn't right," Clarke said and headed by the hole in the fence they had just snuck back in through.

Raven stopped her and slid a shank into Clarke's sleeve. "If she doesn't give him back. Kill her."

Clarke nodded, but Kira noticed that she promised nothing. Clarke walked down the hill right into the thick of the grounders.

Kira reached out and grabbed Bellamy's hand, sure that they would kill Clarke too for interfering. Instead, the young commander let Clarke go to Finn. She embraced him and when she pulled away Finn's head lolled forward and a dark spot spread across his abdomen.

"No!" Raven cried out. "No! No!" She fell to her knees.

Kira watched Raven while still holding Bellamy's hand. She didn't know how to comfort Raven. Or Bellamy who was clearly trying to keep his emotions inside. Kira let herself be held for his sake while she looked down towards Raven with pity. No one understood this was the best Finn could have hoped for. He died in his love's arms, quickly and mostly without pain.


End file.
